The Blue Hens competed at NIRCA Regionals today, at both the women’s and men’s teams qualified to compete in the championship race at NIRCA Nationals! Official results are here.
NIRCA Nationals are on November 10th in Lexington, KY. There are 6 races in total: the freshman/sophomore race, the junior/senior/grad race, and the championship race–each race is run by women and men. The championship race is exclusively the top 7 runners from teams that qualified at NIRCA Regionals. The top 10 Mid-Atlantic teams qualify for the championship race–the women’s team finished 6th and the men’s team 9th! We will be sending our top 7 to compete in the championship race, and all other runners will compete in their respective year races.
For the women’s team, Abby Kaye had the fastest time of the day. Kaye ran 24:36.90 for 29th place, and was followed by Haley Reid, who placed 31st in 24:42.40. Ana Dacey and Emily Magoon both ran under the 25 minute mark, with Dacey running 24:48.60 for 37th and Magoon running 24:53.90 for 39th. Elise LaFramboise came in at 25:00.50 for 40th place, finishing up the top 5. Talia Brookstein-Burke and Natalie Fuhr finished together, crossing the line at 25:26.70 for 53rd and 25:32.00 for 54th, respectively. The strong pack running that is typical of the women’s team at this point in the season gave way for a 6th place overall finish with 168 points!
The men’s team also earned a spot in the championship race at Nationals, with their 9th place finish at 244 points. Brandon Quanci was the team’s top finisher, placing 23rd in 26:39.90. Mike Durkin made a strong return after taking time off due to injury, running 26:55.80 to finish 30th. Nick Fafel was 68th overall, coming in at 28:14.30. Paul Filipow, Schuyler Reed, and Evan Massa all finished in close proximity. Filipow was 86th in 28:39.40, Reed was 90th in 28:41.70, and Massa was 94th in 28:43.20. Ricky Farrell was the last of the top 7, completing the course in 29:12.30 for 117th place.
The team has 3 weeks of training before the final race of the cross country season. With photography from Brandon Holveck, photos are below:
The women had a characteristic 23-second top 5 split
The calm before the storm: men’s team at the line
Abby Kaye was the fastest female Blue Hen today
Brandon Quanci abandons his gloves as he rolls into a 23rd place finish