Blue Hens Exceed Expectations at DeSales Invitational

October 17, 2024October 17, 2024leahgood

Delaware Club Cross Country continued its successful season at the DeSales Invitational, where both the men’s and women’s teams finished 6th overall, competing against Division II and Division III schools. Despite rolling hills, our athletes performed exceptionally well, achieving personal records as they continue into the second half of the season.

The men’s 8k kicked off the meet, and junior Brady Sheaffer continued his strong season, finishing 4th overall with a personal best time of 26:31.50 and securing an award! Sophomore Dave Kelly made an impressive 8k debut in 28:06.80, securing 31st place and 2nd on the team. Freshman Michael Colavito finished within the top 40 with a breakout time of 28:16.20. Freshman Sebastian Vandoni was next for the Blue Hens placed at 29:17.10. Junior Josh Pawlik achieved his second fastest time just under 30 in 29:59.30. Sophmore Ryan Healy had an impressive personal best of over a minute in 30:01.30. Junior Evan Diefenbeck rounded out the Delaware top seven in 30:02.70.

The women’s 6k followed and did not fall short of impressive performances. Senior Lauren Pollock led the Blue Hens with a strong 20th-place finish, setting a personal best time of 25:11.10, also earning an award! Sophomore Claire Merchant was next for Delaware placing in the top 25 with a time of 25:43.30. Freshman Zoe Morawski delivered a solid performance, clocking in at 26:41.50. Sophomore Kate Kershaw achieved a new personal best, crossing the line at 27:09.20. While sophomore Marleigh Ballard maintained her consistency finishing 5th on the team with her time of 27:45.80. Sophomore Natalie Greger followed closely after clocking in at 27:53.70. Rounding out the top Delaware women, sophomores Anna Callaghan and Carly Curnutt finished strong with times of 28:57.30 and 28:59.30, respectively.

With personal bests and strong performances all around, the team is looking forward to a championship season. Delaware Cross Country will continue its season this Saturday, October 19th, as they head to Lehigh University for the NIRCA Regionals!

Full results can be found here.

Cross Country Tackled Their Home Course at the Delaware Invitational

October 15, 2023October 15, 2023leahgood

The Delaware club cross country team traveled up the road to White Clay Creek State Park to race on their home course. Our women placed 5th overall and the men placed 3rd despite some tough competition.

The women started the day with their 5th place finish in the 6k. Sophomore Camila Montes displayed her talent finishing first for the Delaware women with a time of 27:26. Shortly behind was fellow sophomore Jade Barrett finishing within the Delaware top seven again with a time of 27:41. Freshman Ariana DeNicola (28:18) and Kate Kershaw (28:37) worked together to take the 3rd and 4th Delaware spots. Finishing close behind were juniors Margaret Fogarty (28:52) and Leah Goodman (28:59) finishing just under 29 minutes. Exactly a minute later was junior Hannah Pash (29:59) breaking 30 minutes and completing the Delaware top seven. Following close behind was senior Natalie Pinto with a time of 30:01.

The men followed with a third-place finish in the 8k. Sophomore Evan Diefenbeck was in a familiar position leading the Delaware pack with a respectable time of 28:11. Fellow sophomore Matthew Kwiatkowski broke the 30-minute barrier finishing close behind at 28:21 and taking the second scoring spot. Sophomore Dave Kelly (30:15) led a Delaware pack with senior Daniel Giron (30:29) and junior Brett Balthis (30:44) working together to claim the next three spots. Sophomore Evan Pawlik (30:59) earned the sixth Delaware spot, and graduate student Anthony Stohr rounded out the top seven with a time of 31:11.

After racing at hilly White Clay, Delaware looks forward to a flatter Lehigh course for NIRCA Regionals on October 21st.

Full results can be found here.

Diefenbeck about to cross the finish line.

UDXCTF Season Debut at the 47th Gary P. Lister Bottle & Cork 5k.

September 10, 2023September 10, 2023leahgood

The start of the fall semester means the beginning of a new season for the Club XCTF team. Both cross-country runners and sprinters tackled the heat this Saturday, September 9th, at the annual Bottle & Cork 5k road race. Despite just beginning their season, the team exceeded expectations with many notable performances.

The top ten overall spots included six current Delaware runners, two graduate students, and one alumnus. Sophomore Brady Sheaffer finished first with a respectable time of 16:18.0. Close behind was sophomore Alejandro Lobo coming in at 16:28.6. Following the two sophomores was Junior Brett Balthis (17:17.5), and graduate student Chris Calandra (17:28.2) to round out the top five. Sophomore Jack Pelczar (17:58.3), senior Daniel Giron (18:12.2), and graduate student Anthony Stohr (18:13.7) showed their talent with 6th, 7th, and 8th place finishes. Senior Matt Scarpelli secured the 10th overall spot with a time of 18:20.9.

Current Sophmore Evan Diefenbeck tackled the 10-miler instead this weekend at Dewey and finished 1st overall in 57:02.2. Additionally the team cheered for our volunteer coach Mark Keese to finish his 10-miler as well in 1:35.14.4.

Moving on to the women’s results, UDXCTF competed hard in Dewey this Saturday with various standout performances. Freshman Gabriella Maletta dominated with a women’s first-place overall finish of 21:48.5. Following close behind was freshman teammate Carly Curnutt finishing second with a time of 21:56.2. Graduate student Robin Collura (22:05.9), sophomore Jade Barrett (22:07.2), and junior Delaney Oeth (22:45.6) took 3rd, 4th, and 5th place respectively.

An honorable mention to all runners who placed within their age groups, the freshmen for completing their first collegiate race, as well as multiple sprinters attacking this 5k.

The cross country team will attend their official season opener on September 16th at the Highlander Invite.

Full meet results can be found here.

Maletta on the final stretch of her race.

Oeth smiling her way to the finish line.

Sophmores Sobocinski, and Trageser working together.

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

November 14, 2022November 14, 2022rlaz

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

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

November 1, 2022November 1, 2022rlaz

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.