Men's Cross Country 10/12/2017 11:01:00 AM Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Lagno To Be Inducted Into Wall Of Fame At Alma Mater

AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen College Head Men's and Women's Cross Country/Track and Field Coach Paul Lagno is among 10 members of the 2017 induction class to the State University of New York at Albany Track and Field and Cross Country Wall of Fame. The induction ceremony is set for this Saturday, October 14 in the SEFCU Arena Hall of Fame Room at 5:30 p.m.

Lagno set six school records as a member of the UAlbany track and field team before graduating Cum Laude in 2012 with Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics. To this day, he remains UAlbany's record holder for the one-mile run (both indoor and outdoor), the 3,000-meter run (indooor) and the 1,500-meter run (outdoor). An All-Academic honoree from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) in 2011, Lagno went on to compete in cross country as a graduate student at Florida State University where he helped the Seminoles to a fifth-place finish at the 2012 NCAA Division I National Championships.

"Each of this year's inductees really helped move the program from the level it was when they arrived to the next by the time they left," said UAlbany Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Roberto Vives, now in his 33rd season at the school, in a press release posted to ualbanysports.com. "Each really knew the value of 'team'. If I had to point to a common thread among the members of this group, they are all people who made a difference in their time to project our program to where we are today."

"It's a great honor to be recognized as a Wall of Fame inductee," Lagno said. "Coach Vives has built such an incredible program at Albany, and I'm so happy to have been a part of it."

A native of Millbrook, N.Y., Lagno took the reins and has presided over the steady growth of Daemen's cross country and track and field programs since the 2015-16 season. He's specifically led the women's cross country team to sustained success, including back-to-back second-place finishes at the East Coast Conference Championships, and two consecutive fourth-place finishes at the NCAA Division II East Region Championships. In his first season, he coached former Daemen great Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y.) to a berth in the 2015 NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships in Joplin, Missouri as Donahue became the first Daemen athlete in any sport to qualify and compete in a national championship event at the Division II level.

In addition, Lagno has led the men's cross country team to a pair of top-four finishes at the conference level in his first two seasons. The team's third-place finish in 2016 matched the team's best performance at the conference championship meet since joining the league back in 2013.

Lagno has also contributed to the growth of Daemen's track and field program, coaching the two teams to a combined six top-five finishes at the conference level between the indoor and outdoor seasons. The 2016-17 season brought individual success as well with Lagno coaching the afore-mentioned Donahue to berths in both the indoor and outdoor national championship meets. She would earn second-team All-America recognition for her ninth-place finish in the 10,000-meter run at the 2017 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships.

At the time of his hiring in 2015, UAlbany's Vives said: "This is a great new era for Daemen College. Paul Lagno developed from a walk-on at Albany to running a school record 4:01 mile and contributing positively to numerous conference championship teams. This is a tribute to his work ethic and dedication. He is a winner and along with the coaching experience he has gained at national powerhouse Florida State, he is ready for this new challenge."

Tickets for Saturday's Wall of Fame induction ceremony are available through the UAlbany website.

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Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Donahue: 5' 2"; Senior

Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Donahue
: 5' 2"; Senior