NIRCA

Horgan Earns All-American Honors as Delaware Wraps Up Their Season at NIRCA Nationals

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The Delaware Cross Country team finished up the season in Richmond, Virginia at the NIRCA Cross Country National Championships. Facing off against universities from across the country, the Delaware runners gave it all they had in gritty races all across the board. The fierce competition and slightly elongated course gave the squad a run to remember in the season finale.

Starting off the set of championship races were the women, who finished just inside the top 20 in 19th place as a team. It marks the fifth straight time the women finished in the top 20 at Nationals. The Blue Hens were led by freshmen Jade Barrett and Kaitlyn Burke. Barrett finished first for the Blue Hens in 82nd place with a time of 25:58, followed by Burke, who finished 110th at 26:38. Junior Jenna Mlecko followed, finishing in 27:03 in her final cross country race of her career, as the distance captain is graduating early this year. The duo of CJ Williams (27:33) and Natalie Pinto (27:40) continued to work off each other, finishing within two spots of each other to round out the top five. Freshman Hannah Heredia (28:06) took the sixth spot for Delaware and senior Madeleine Dorley (30:11) finished seventh in her last ever race for the school.

The men followed with a tough 29th place team finish. Alex Horgan repeated as an All-American, earning a second-team spot in 23rd place with a time of 26:40. Despite coming off of a foot injury, freshman Evan Diefenbeck finished second for the Blue Hens, coming in at 29:27 to finish in 164th place. Seniors Sasha Latina (29:56) and Chris Calandra (30:58) took the next two spots, ending their cross country careers for Delaware with third and fourth place finishes for the team. Freshman Michael Toy made his top seven debut by also finishing the race in 30:58, followed closely behind by Dan Giron (31:18). Only six members crossed the finish line as Matthew Kwiatkowski was unable to complete the race.

In the class races, six Blue Hens ran their final XC race wearing the blue and gold. Maddy Ciskowski ran one of her best races of the season in her final race of her career, leading Delaware with a time of 28:52. Seniors Kayla Johnson and Kelsie Hansell also finished out their time with Delaware, with Hansell showing immense perseverance by finishing her last ever race fighting through heavy sickness. Team President John Papadopoulos led the squad in the men’s upperclassman race, going out fast and finishing with a time of 32:38. Seniors Matt Bieker and John Salsini-Tobias also finished out their cross country careers with times of 37:35 and 43:28 respectively.

After a long delay and an even longer day, the underclassmen concluded the afternoon with their races. Three girls finished their races separated by less than 35 seconds at the top of the women’s underclassman race. Freshman Camila Montes (28:55) led the pack in 38th place, followed close behind by Lauren Pollock (29:24) and Emma Szydlow (29:28), who finished back-to-back. On the men’s side, the top three underclassman finishers for Delaware were all separated by a minute. Leading the charge was Evan Pawlik (31:17) and Caden MacHenry (31:25), and then Sean Bernardo at 32:16.

With the cross country season ending, Delaware shifts their focus to winter track. The Blue Hens are set to make their season debut on the track at Franklin & Marshall College on December 9th at the Diplomat Open. 

Full meet results can be found here.

The ten seniors who ran their last ever cross country race for Delaware
Josh Pawlik leading a pack of runners
Alex Horgan in a battle on his way to an All-American caliber race
Kayla Johnson turning the corner as she reaches the final mile
Matt Bieker in a pack of runners during his final XC race
Freshman Emma Szydlow finishing her final XC race of her first season

Alex Horgan wins the NIRCA Regional as Both Men and Women Place Top 10

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Delaware club cross country kicked off the championship season at the NIRCA Cross Country Mid-Atlantic Regional at Lehigh University. The runner-friendly course set the stage for the Delaware athletes to show what they could do.

The women kicked off the morning with an impressive 6th place team finish. Out of the top seven girls, six of them set new personal bests. Freshman Jade Barrett led Delaware once again, this time setting a new personal record by over a minute at 24:45, as well as finishing in the top 25. Junior Jenna Mlecko also set a new personal record right behind her, getting below 25 minutes for the first time, crossing the line at 24:59. The third and fourth Delaware spots went to freshmen Kaitlyn Burke and Hannah Heredia, who each set personal bests at 25:46.4 and 25:58.3 respectively. Freshman CJ Williams finished up the scoring five with a massive minute and a half improvement on her best time, coming in at 26:02. Finishing right behind her at 26:04 with a minute improvement on her best time was junior Natalie Pinto, and rounding out the top seven was senior Madeleine Dorley, who finished in 27:02.9.

Due to a results issue, it is unknown what the exact position the men placed, but it is known that they finished well enough to qualify for Nationals. The only thing known for sure about the men’s race is that senior Alex Horgan put out a dominant performance, winning the race with a time of 25:25, which missed his all-time club record by only two seconds. Despite not putting in their best performances, freshmen Matthew Kwiatkowski and Alejandro Lobo still put up impressive performances, coming in at 27:01 and 28:00 respectively. Sophomore Aravind Arunachalam set a new best for himself at 28:09 to finish fourth for Delaware, followed closely by senior Sasha Latina, who finished in 28:20. Completing the top seven was senior Chris Calandra and junior Dan Giron, with Calandra setting a new personal best of 28:41, and Giron continuing his sub-30 minute streak going 29:51.4.

With one race to go, Delaware is ready to finish the season strong at the NIRCA Cross Country National Championships on November 12th in Richmond, Virginia.


Full results can be found here.

Jade Barrett and Jenna Mlecko leading Delaware to a 6th place team finish
Hannah Pash finishing her race with intensity
Alex Horgan en route to his regional championship in the beautiful Lehigh Valley
Evan and Josh Pawlik taking sibling rivalry to a new level, with Anthony Stohr kicking with them

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

Men and Women’s Teams Secure First Place Finishes at Club Penn Relays

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Delaware Club Track traveled to historic Franklin Field to compete in the Club Penn Relays with both men’s and women’s teams taking home first place team victories. The women finished with a total of 44 points, while the men finished with 37.

In the individual events, the women were led by the combination of Leena Saidi, Talia Brookstein-Burke and Bailey Davin in the mile and two mile. Davin and Brookstein-Burke secured second and third places for the Hens with times of 11:57.88 and 12:31.53 in the 3200. Saidi took third in the mile with a time of 5:55.28 and placed third for Delaware. 

On the men’s individual side, the fellas placed two Blue Hens in the top three in the two mile with Alex Horgan finishing first and Paul Filipow taking third. Horgan secured the win with a time of 9:46.69. Filipow followed up Horgan with a 10:11.13 performance.

With a total of six relays over the course of the meet, the ladies placed in the top three in five of the six total relays. The women did not run a 4×400-meter relay. On the sprints side, the 4×100-meter and 4×200-meter relays took home first place with times of 1:00.20 and 2:10.83 respectively. The women placed second in each of the distance relays including the 4×800-meter relay, the 1600-meter DMR and 4000-meter DMR.

The men also found success in the sprint and distance relays with both teams entered in the men’s 4×100 taking second and third place with times of 49.19 and 51.69. Delaware secured a victory in the men’s 4×400 with a time of 3:50.88. The men’s 4×200 and 1600-meter DMR also both took home second place finishes.

Delaware is set to travel out to Michigan to race in NIRCA Nationals on April 2 and April 3 in Olivet, Michigan.

Davin, Horgan Land on All-Time List, Men’s Team Takes Fourth at Capital Relays

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The Delaware club track team began its 2022 outdoor campaign at American University’s Capital Relays on Saturday. Two Blue Hens etched their way into the outdoor all-time list in the 5,000-meter race.

Senior Bailey Davin surpassed Molly Doyle’s 2019 NIRCA Nationals time of 19:25.81 to become fourth all-time in the team record books. Davin finished with a time of 19:22 and secured five points for Delaware. Sophomore Jenna Mlecko secured another point for the Hens with her eighth place finish of 20:44. Madeleine Dorley placed 11th in the event with a time of 21:45.

In the women’s 800-meter Chloe Gerstenbacher took 11th place in 2:45.74. Aine Grubb followed shortly after for Delaware with a time of 2:53.99.

Davin and Mlecko combined for the women’s team’s six points on the day.

Alex Horgan followed suit finishing second in the 5k, clocking in with a time of 15:32. Horgan’s time puts him seventh on the all-time outdoor performance list, surpassing Brandon Quanci. Horgan along with fellow junior Sasha Latina grabbed a total of nine points for Delaware in the first race of the day. 

Horgan and Ryan Lazev both finished in the top ten spots of the 800-meter run to secure four points for Delaware. Horgan doubled back after the 5k in 2:08.47, while Lazev grabbed the final scoring position with a time of 2:11.39.

The Hens grabbed another 10 points in the 4×100-meter relay as clean handoffs propelled Delaware past James Madison. Delaware’s 4×400-meter relay placed sixth with a time of 3:56.10, grabbing three points.

Sprinters Josiah Taylor and John Shaw combined to score five points for Delaware on the individual side in the 100-meter dash. Taylor finished with a sub-12 time of 11.91 and Shaw close behind in 12.38. Shaw combined to score eight points for Delaware after placing third in the 200-meter dash in 25.44. Drew Huffer finished right behind Shaw in fourth place with a time of 26.10. 

Delaware scored a total of 29 points in the sprint events. The men finished fourth with 44 points.

The Blue Hens will get a break to recover and continue their training for the team’s next meet on Mar. 20. Delaware is set to compete at the Club Penn Relays in Philadelphia.