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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

Women Place Top 3 and Men Win on Their Home Course

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Delaware club cross country made the short trip up to White Clay Creek State Park to host the Delaware Invitational. Along with the University of Delaware Women’s Cross Country team, the teams face the grueling course in a battle to defend their home turf.

The women started off the day with a third place finish in the 6k. Freshman Jade Barrett returned to competition, once again leading the team with a time of 26:37.83, placing 16th. The tandem of junior Jenna Mlecko (27:07.02) and freshman Kaitlyn Burke (27:21.59) took the final two podium spots for Delaware, both finishing in the top 20 overall. Freshman Hannah Heredia finished close behind them, finishing 23rd place in 27:35.9. Junior Natalie Pinto (28:28.54), freshman CJ Williams (28:35.32), and senior Madeleine Dorley (28:53.82) came in with back-to-back-to-back finishes to complete Delaware’s top seven. 

The men followed with a first place finish in the 8k. Senior Alex Horgan had complete control of the race, winning the whole meet with a time of 26:49.76. His time puts him above Mike Durkin for 5th place on the Delaware Club Cross Country leaderboard for the White Clay course. Freshman Alejandro Lobo (29:05.04) also cracked the top ten with a 10th place finish, followed closely by fellow freshman Evan Diefenbeck (29:15.62), who finished 11th. Rounding out the scoring five was junior Dan Giron (30:33.14) and senior Chris Calandra (30:41.01) in his first 8k of the season. Senior Sasha Latina followed with a time of 30:56.84, and freshman Brenden Debrosse cracked the top seven for the first time with a personal best 31:42.37.

Delaware’s sights now are pointed to NIRCA Regionals at Lehigh on October 29th, where they will try to qualify as a team for nationals.

Full results can be found here.

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.

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.