HOPKINTON, N.H. - Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) continued her outstanding junior season, breaking her own school record for a 6K race and finishing in third place, out of 186 competitors, at the NCAA Division II East Region Championships held today at Hopkinton State Fairgrounds.  Donahue's performance helped Daemen to a fourth-place finish in the team standings, out of 28 competing teams, and it qualified her for the NCAA National Championship meeet, becoming the first Daemen athlete to do so.

Donahue's time of 21:42.46 was more than 30 seconds better than the previous school record (22:14.5) which she set earlier this season at the Mike Woods Invitational hosted by SUNY Geneseo at Letchworth State Park on October 3.  It's the fourth time this season that Donahue has broken her own school records as she's also set new 5K benchmarks, first at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational on September 26, and then again at the East Coast Conference Championships on October 24.  The third-place finish today also marks Donahue's 15th top-10 finish in 19 career races.

Also performing well for Daemen today was sophomore Amy Trabert (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst) who finished in 14th place.  Trabert's time of 22:10.95 would have set a new school record had it not been for Donahue's dominant performance in front of her.

Junior Hannah Rice (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) returned to the lineup after missing the conference championship meet with an injury.  Rice finished 38th with a time of 23:08.40, and it marked the eighth time in the team's last nine races that Donauhe, Trabert and Rice have finished as the team's top three scorers, in one order or another.

Rounding out the Wildcats' scorers today was junior Brittany Denton (Oakfield, N.Y./Oakfield-Alabama) and senior Brooke Nolan (Depew, N.Y./Depew).  Denton finished in 45th place (23:27.91) while Nolan, competing in the final race of her collegiate career, completed the course in 24:51.61 to come in 78th place.

Nicole Borofski of Stonehill College won today's race with a time of 21:12.47.  Sarah Jerotich of N.Y. Institute of Technology, who won the ECC Championship two weeks ago, was the runner-up today (21:34.82).

The team title went to Stonehill, the top-ranked team in the region all season long.  SC placed all five of its scorers in the top 17 finishers to accumulate just 48 points, which was far and away better than second-place Roberts Wesleyan College (128 points).

Donahue will travel to the NCAA National Championship to compete as an individual in the race on November 21 in Joplin, Mo.