MEET INFORMATION
Harry F. Anderson Invitational
Hosted by Roberts Wesleyan College
Saturday, Sept. 22  |  11:30 a.m.
Matt St. James Cross Country Trails | Rochester, N.Y.
Distance: 5K

MEET LINKS
Live Results

THE STARTING LINE
Daemen returns to Rochester, N.Y. for the second-straight week to take part in the Harry F. Anderson Invitational hosted by Roberts Wesleyan College. The Wildcats will be making their seventh-straight appearance at this event. Daemen has had success at this event in recent years, finishing third in 2015 and 2016 and fifth (out of 16 teams) last fall.

COACH LAGNO
Head coach Paul Lagno returns for his fourth season leading the Daemen harriers. He has led the women's cross country team to three-straight top-three finishes at the East Coast Conference Championships, including back-to-back (2015 and 2016) runner-up showings. In addition, Lagno guided the Wildcats to back-to-back fourth-place finishes at the NCAA Division II East Region Championships (2015, 16) and in 2015 he coached Mackenzie Donahue to an individual berth in the NCAA Division II National Championship meet.

WILDCATS PICKED 3RD IN ECC PRESEASON POLL
Following a vote of the league's head coaches, Daemen has been picked to finish third in the East Coast Conference this season. The Wildcats have finished as the league's runner-up three times since joining back in 2013, and have never finished worse than fourth. Roberts Wesleyan, which has won four-straight ECC titles, was the near unanimous pick to win it again in 2018.

LOSING THE LEGENDS
For the second-straight year head coach Paul Lagno must replace one of the top runners in program history. Amy Trabert was lost to graduation after placing second at the ECC Championships last year. She posted 10 top-10 finishes in 24 career races and closed out her outstanding four-year career by earning All-Region honors after placing 13th out of 173 runners at the 2017 NCAA Division II East Regional. Mackenzie Donahue and Hannah Rice were lost to graduation following the 2016 season. Donahue was downright dominant during her career, posting 19 top-10 finishes in 25 career races, including back-to-back second-place finishes at the conference championship meet in 2015 and 2016. She was the first Daemen athlete to qualify and compete in a national championship event at the NCAA Division II level, doing so in 2015. Rice was right there with her every step of the way, posting eight top-10 finishes in 23 career races and earning second-team All-ECC honors three times.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
Daemen enters the 2018 season with no seniors and just one junior on its 11-member roster. Sophomore Savannah Warner tops the list of returning runners. Warner competed in all seven events as a rookie last year and was among the top three Daemen runners in each race. She placed 16th out of 79 runners with a personal-best time of 19:57.8 at ECC Championships. Junior Shania LiVecchi and sophomore Mackenzie Tubbs also return after solid seasons in 2017. LiVecchi has run in 12 of a possible 14 races over the past two seasons. She finished third overall at the season-opening Daniel Walker Invitational last year (21:06) and was fourth among Daemen runners at the NCAA Division II East Regional with a personal-best time for a 6K race (26:17.2). Tubbs sat out the season-opener last fall, but went on to compete in each of the final six races. She finished fourth among Daemen runners at the 6K Mike Woods Invitational with a personal-best time of 24:32.1 and also placed fourth among her teammates and 21st overall at the 5K ECC Championships with a personal-best time of 20:19.6.

WARNER SETS THE PACE
Sophomore Savannah Warner has been the top Daemen runner in each of the first two races this season. She opened the year by earning ECC Runner of the Week honors after placing third out of 46 runners at the Buffalo State Daniel Walker Invitational with a time of 21:40. Last week she placed 71st (out of 212) at the 6K Yellow Jacket Invitational hosted by the University of Rochester with a time of 25:49.9. Freshman Sarah Golas has posted impressive efforts in her first two collegiate races, as she placed fifth at the Daniel Walker (22:08) and 76th at the Yellow Jacket Invitational (25:56.4). Her efforts at the Daniel Walker earned her ECC Rookie of the Week honors.

ADDITIONAL COMPETING TEAMS
Alfred State
Brockport
Broome CC
Bryant & Stratton
Buffalo State
Cayuga CC
Cortland State
D'Youville
Erie CC
Finger Lakes CC
Fredonia
Gannon
Geneseo (#1 in D3 Atlantic Region / #3 in D3 National Poll)
Hilbert
Houghton
Ithaca (#9 in D3 Atlantic Region)
Medaille
Morrisville State
Nazareth
Onondaga CC
RIT (#8 in D3 Atlantic Region)
Roberts Wesleyan (#4 in D2 East Region)
St. Bonaventure
St. Thomas Aquinas (#10 in D2 East Region)
William Smith

LAST APPEARANCE AT THIS EVENT
Sept. 23, 2017
Team Finish: 5th of 16 / 2017 RESULTS
Individual Scorers: Amy Trabert (4th - 19:16.1), Tara Pede (7th - 19:28.0), Savannah Warner (38th - 20:36.4), Katherine Robinson (48th - 20:44.9), Shania LiVecchi (65th - 21:06.2), Mackenzie Tubbs (66th - 21:06.9), Taya Mucha (85th - 21:37.5), Ashley Dusza (95th - 21:52.7), Elisia Panipinto (163rd - 25:12.9)

UP NEXT
Daemen is idle until Oct. 6 when it takes part in the Highlander Invitational hosted by the Houghton College.