Men Place 4th and Women Place 14th in an Electric DeSales Invitational

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The Delaware cross country team went up to DeSales University to compete against Division II and Division III at the DeSales Invitational. The course featured rolling hills through cornfields as well as a run through DeSales’ campus, but the unbalanced course led the way for many personal bests as the season really ramps up.

The men kicked off the meet with a 4th place team finish in the 8k. The team was led by senior Alex Horgan, who edged out a Swarthmore runner to secure second place with a time of 25:29.8. Freshman Matthew Kwiatkowski followed Horgan with a 10th place finish and his own personal best of 26:23.4, which passed Chris Kitson for 10th place on the all time cross country 8k leaderboard. He’s looking to climb up the leaderboard later on, as he said that he has already surpassed his time expectations for the season. Freshman Alejandro Lobo and junior Dan Giron took the next two spots for Delaware with personal bests of 27:28.5 and 28:05.6 respectively. The scoring five for Delaware was rounded out by freshman Evan Diefenbeck, who came in 69th place with a time of 28:14.8. Coming in not too far behind to finish off Delarare’s top seven was senior Sasha Latina at 28:24.9 and sophomore Aravind Arunachalam at 28:32.8.

The women followed the men with a 14th place team finish and having five of their top seven improving their times from two weeks ago by at least a minute. Leading the charge was freshman Kaitlyn Burke, who set a new personal best of 26:09.2, and senior Jenna Mlecko, who followed right behind at 26:10.4. Delaware’s third spot was junior Natalie Pinto, who improved on her personal best, coming in at 27:09.0. Rounding out the scoring five was senior Madeleine Dorley and freshman Camila Montes, who both set new season best times by over a minute at 27:40.8 and 28:04.4 respectively. Making their top seven debuts were Maddy Ciskowski and Leah Goodman, who finished close together at 28:10.7 and 28:17.5.

The meet also featured two Delaware XCTF alumni. Former club president Emily Hansell and former treasurer Schuyler Reed came out to wear the Delaware colors for one more time. 

Delaware now moves on to their home meet, the Delaware Invitational, on October 15th.Full meet results can be found here.

Freshman Class Headline Start of the Collegiate Season

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The Delaware club cross country team officially started their season with their first NIRCA sanctioned race at the DC Invitational. The team returned to the DC for the time since 2017. This was also the first meet the team was able to debut their new uniforms!

The women led the meet off in the 6,000 meter race. Four freshmen finished inside Delaware’s top seven. Freshman Jade Barrett led the charge with a 7th place finish with a time of 26:01. Fellow freshman Hannah Heredia got second for the team, placing 12th at 27:02. Junior Natalie Pinto came in 14th place at 27:21 to start the season off with a personal best, and coming in not far behind in 16th place at 27:34 was freshman Kaitlyn Burke. Freshman Emma Szydlow finished off the scoring group at 28:35 in her first collegiate race. Madeleine Dorley and Alyssa Blocker rounded out the top seven at 28:43 and 29:12, followed right behind by Madelyn Ciskowski two seconds later.

The men followed the women in the 8k with a clear team victory. Senior Alex Horgan led the field with 26:09, keeping up his winning ways from last year. The freshman trio of Matthew Kwiatkowski, Alejandro Lobo, and Evan Diefenback took the next few spots for Delaware in their collegiate debuts. Kwiatkowski took second at 27:25, Lobo came fifth in 27:49, and Diefenback came seventh in 28:18. Senior Sasha Latina and junior Dan Giron rounded out the top ten spots and Delaware’s top six in 29:12 and 29:48 respectively. The seventh spot when to Arvind Arunachalam in his season debut, who finished a step ahead of fellow sophomore Caden MacHenry, both setting personal bests of 30:44. 

Delaware now looks forward two weeks to October 8th for the DeSalles XC Invitational to face NCAA teams.

Full meet results can be found here.

Men’s team starting out their meet-winning 8k
Leah Goodman, Madelyn Ciskowski, and Alyssa Blocker in the beginning of their race
Alex Horgan with a massive lead on the rest of the field in route to his victory
Freshman Michael Toy fighting for a better position at the finish

Delaware Cross Country Takes Control of the Season Opener 5k

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A new season has begun for the University of Delaware Club Cross Country and Track and Field team. Distance, sprinters, and alumni alike, went down to Dewey Beach, Delaware for the 46th Gary P. Lister Bottle & Cork 5k road race. 

Despite it being very early in the season, the team put up many good performances, including complete ownership of the overall top 10 from nine current Delaware runners and one alumni. 

Senior Alex Horgan finished first with a dominating 15:47.3. He finished over a whole minute ahead of junior Dan Giron (16:51.3) and senior Sasha Latina (16:59.9), who rounded out the podium. Freshman Evan Diefenbeck (17:04.5) and first year competing sophomore Arvind Arunachalam (17:12.8) showed their potential with 4th and 5th place finishes. Delaware rounded out the top 10 with sophomore Brett Balthis (17:21.0), senior Chris Calandra (18:09.4), freshman Branden Debrosse (18:12.1), and sophomore Caden MacHenry (18:15.6). 

On the women’s side, freshman Geneva Laur led the Delaware pack with a second place finish of 21:21.3. The freshman girls continued their reign with CJ Williams securing the third podium spot at 21:34.7 and Jade Barrett getting Delaware’s third spot at 21:56.5. Junior Jenna Mlecko (22:05.6) and freshman Hannah Heredia (22:09.7) went back-to-back to attain the final top five spots for Delaware. Rounding out the Delaware top seven placing 8th and 9th overall came junior Natalie Pinto at 22:26.2 and sophomore Lauren Pollock at 22:47.5.

The cross country team will get their collegiate season started on September 24th at the DC Invitational. 

Full meet results can be found here.

Multiple Seniors Go Out on Top at Paul Kaiser Classic

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Delaware Club Track ended its 2022 outdoor track meet schedule on Saturday at Shippensburg in the Paul Kaiser Classic. The meet marked the last race for multiple seniors on the team. 

Their performances did not disappoint starting with the first event.

Seniors Talia Brookstein-Burke and Bailey Davin became two of the first three women ever to compete in the 10,000-meter run in team history. Both placed in the top ten for the Hens with Brookstein-Burke (40:08.98) taking second and Davin (40:57.42) snagging seventh. The duo already sits fourth and fifth all-time in the 5,000-meter run.

Tailia Brookstein-Burke (left) and Bailey Davin (right) embrace after completing their races in the 10k.

The pairs of senior roommates for the ladies and the fellas shined in the remaining long distance events. Schuyler Reed and Paul Filipow, members of the men’s track house, ended their collegiate career in the 5k within two places of one another. Filipow finished with a time of 16:22.19 and Reed in 16:34.86. Liz Steenkamer and Kendra Cutler, members of the women’s track house, rounded out the long distance performances for the senior squad in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. 

Cutler finished tenth with a time of 13:52.10 and Steenkamer in 14:40.62.

Allison Einig smashed a personal best in the 1,500-meter run and put her name on the all-time list with a time of 5:06.87. Einig is fifth all-time and surpassed Stephanie Palese’s 2017 Delaware Classic mark of 5:08.03. She doubled back for the last event of the day, the 4×400-meter relay, which finished with a time of 5:10.10.

Allison Einig passes the clock in the middle of her 1500-meter run personal best performance.

Multiple seniors of the sprints and field crew also went out in style. Kate Contini led the women in the short sprints in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Contini’s performances in both events put her second on the all-time list in the 200 (28.69) and fifth in the 100 (13.88). 

Drew Huffer competed in the triple jump (11.41m), 4×100-meter relay (46.85) and one two 4×400 teams (4:04.33). Huffer’s 4×100 time is tenth in team history. Senior Pat LaPorte made his season debut and finale alongside Huffer in the 4×4. He underwent knee surgery in October.

The end for the seniors in the blue and gold did not take away from multiple impressive performances from underclassmen. Jenna Mlecko joined Davin and Brookstein-Burke in making team history in the 10k with a time of 44:14.37.  Alex Horgan became the fourth athlete to break the four minutes in the 1500 (3:56.53), while Mike Anderson became the fifth to eclipse two minutes in the 800-meter run. 

Alex Horgan looks on in amazement after breaking four minutes in the 1500-meter run.

The team is set to compete two more times in events including a team scrimmage set for May 13 and the Frankswine Downhill Mile on May 16.

 

Men Place in Top 10, Multiple Women Make All-Time List at Bill Butler Invite

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Delaware Club Track traveled to West Chester University to begin its first of three meets in a three week stretch at the Bill Butler Invitational. 

The men took home sixth place as a team with 33 points out of a 13 team field. The women saw multiple runners score along with two sprinters earning their way onto the team all-time lists.

The fellas were led by Alex Horgan who continued his dominance across the track in the 5,000-meter run.  Horgan put nearly a minute between him and the rest of the field and finished with a time of 15:17.60. The time moves Horgan into sixth place all-time, surpassing Aidan Galasso. Senior Paul Filipow also secured points for Delaware in the event taking sixth place in 16:34.08.

In the mid-distance events, freshman Mike Anderson grabbed three points for the Hens with a time of 2:00.07. The time puts Anderson at fifth all-time in the 800-meters. Ryan Wallace and Jack Murphy also found success in the technical events for the Hens with Wallace placing fourth in the 110-meter hurdles (16.08) and Murphy fifth in javelin (42.60m). Wallace now sits second all-time in the hurdles, with Murphy fourth all-time. 

For the ladies, two sprinters found their way onto the all-time record lists in the 400-meter and 100-meter dashes. Eli Manning’s time of 1:05.42 puts her fourth all-time in the event. Manning found her name on the all-time list in the event indoors over the winter. 

Sam Radinsky’s time in the 100-meter dash (14.37) earned her the spot of eighth all-time. Similar to Manning, Radinsky found her way onto the all-time lists during indoor track in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes.

In the distance events, Kendra Cutler and Allison Einig build upon their success from NIRCA Nationals. Cutler placed once again in the top ten in steeplechase. Cutler finished with a time of 13:46.60 and placed sixth. Allison Einig took home another three points for the women in the 1500-meter run. Einig’s time of 5:17.54 put her in sixth in the event.

Delaware will travel to College Park next weekend to compete in the Terrapin Invitational, hosted by Maryland’s club running team.