COLONIA, NJ – The ECC will be well-represented at the 2024 NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Cross Country Championship at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, CA on November 23. After turning in top-three team finishes at the 2024 NCAA Division II East Region Cross Country Championship on Saturday, the Roberts Wesleyan men's and women's squads and the Daemen women's squad earned automatic bids. Additionally, as announced this afternoon, D'Youville junior Lainie Smith has earned an at-large bid.
The Roberts Wesleyan women won the regional 6k race on their home course of the Matt St. James Cross Country Trail in Rochester, NY to qualify for their 10th consecutive NCAA Championship. Led by RWU junior Rachel Horner-Richardson’s second-place finish (22:02.5) in the overall field of 135, the Redhawks placed four runners in the top 13 to take the top spot in a field of 19 teams. Senior Kylee Odell (7th, 22:14.1), junior Lydia Roselund (10th, 22:16.4), and freshmen Paige Reeser (13th, 22:28.7) joined Horner-Richardson with USTFCCCA All-Region honors while Evelyn Schmit (39th, 23:44.7) rounded out the scoring for the Redhawks. Junior Gianna Tribotte (53rd, 24:13.7) and freshman Kennedy Mitchell (24:26.0) finished as RWU’s No. 6 and No. 7 runners. The regional championship is the second for Roberts Wesleyan, having also won in 2014.
Led by the 2024 NCAA Division II East Region Championship men's individual champion Owen White, the Roberts Wesleyan men placed four runners in the top 20 to take second as a team. Senior Zachary Hall placed third (31:27.3) while sophomore Caleb Belanger (14th, 32:10.5) and freshman Jakob Zibbel (22nd, 32:20.4) added USTFCCCA All-Region performances. Freshman Trevor Heitkamp (31st, 32:45.0) rounded out the Redhawks’ scorers while fellow rookies Juvenal Diaz-Cortes (51st, 33:25.4) and Nathan Demarest (58th, 33:44.2) finished as RWU’s No. 6 and No. 7 runners.
Qualifying for NCAAs for the second time in three seasons, the Daemen women finished third at the regional meet. The dynamic USTFCCCA All-Region duo of graduate students Courtney Merrill (22:14.5) and Camryn Bailey (22:15.7) finished eighth and ninth, respectively, followed by juniors Christa Oates (27th, 23:01.5), Patsy Oberholzer (23:18.7), and Emma Grzebinski (44th, 23:51.4). Senior Emma Cain (51st, 24:05.5) and freshman Lia Brasacchio (56th, 24:17.6) finished as Daemen’s No. 6 and No. 7 runners. ?
D'Youville's Smith placed sixth overall and was the third-fastest finisher not on one of the top-three teams. The top two finishers not on one of the top-three teams earns immediate automatic bids to NCAAs, and Smith missed by just under three seconds. Smith was then announced to have qualified for NCAAs through the at-large selection process.
For a complete list of all qualifiers, please click here.