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Marcy Colca (L) and Kassandra Nolet (R) earned first-team All-ECC honors.

Women's Cross Country Races To Second Place Showing At ECC Championships

Stong Team Effort Leads To A Record Five All-Conference Honors For Daemen

10/23/2021 1:16:00 PM

By: Tom McDermott

EAST COAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP — COMPLETE RESULTS


ROCHESTER, N.Y. - An outstanding team effort by the Daemen College women's cross country team came up just short, as the Wildcats placed second to perennial power Roberts Wesleyan College today at the 2021 East Coast Conference Championships held on the Roberts Wesleyan campus.

Daemen placed five runners among the top 14 finishers and accumulated 44 points in the team standings. Roberts Wesleyan (29 points) placed five runners in the top ten to and earned the ECC crown—its seventh-straight title. Daemen entered today's race ranked No. 5 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II East Region poll, while RWC was ranked No. 4 in the region. Saint Thomas Aquinas College placed third with 76 points, while Molloy (118) and the University of the District of Columbia (152) rounded out the top-five.

Daemen's team score of 44 was the best the Wildcats have recorded during their time in the league, topping the previous best mark of 48 in 2016. It also marked the fourth time since Daemen first took part in the ECC Championships in 2013 that the Wildcats have placed second at the event—and the first time since 2016.

Senior Bailey Gostomski of Roberts Wesleyan paced the field of 71 runners today with a time of 18:07.3. Gostomski edged out graduate student Abagaile Kimbrell of St. Thomas Aquinas, who came in at 18:10.9. Gostomski was crowned ECC Runner of the Year by virtue of her winning today's race.

Daemen returns to the Roberts Wesleyan campus on Nov. 6 to take part in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II East Region Championship.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Daemen had a record five runners earn All-ECC honors today. The league awards first-team honors to finishers one through seven, and second-team honors to finishers eight through 14.
  • All nine Daemen runners posted a personal-best time today.
  • Redshirt senior Kassandra Nolet (Fort Erie, Ont.) and freshman Marcy Colca (Getzville, N.Y.) paced the Wildcats and both earned first-team all conference honors.
  • Nolet, who earned second team All-ECC honors in 2019, placed third overall with a time of 18:18.0. She knocked 28 seconds off her previous personal-best time of 18:46.2 that she set at the Daemen Duels last month. It marked the fifth top five finish of the season for Nolet, and it also ranks as the third fastest time by a Daemen runner in a 5K race since the program gained NCAA Division II status. Former standout Mackenzie Donahue owns the the top two times in program history, 17:44.3 at the 2015 ECC Championships and 18:09.8 at the 2016 ECC Championships.
  • Colca becomes the third freshman in program history to earn first-team all conference honors. She joins Donahue in 2013 and Tara Pede in 2017. Colca finished seventh with a time of 18:54.9, eclipsing her previous personal-best time of 18:56.0 she set at the Daemen Duels. She came just nine seconds shy of earning ECC Rookie of the Year honors, which went to Katie Mohr of Molloy who finished fifth with a time of 18:45.0.
  • Junior Courtney Merrill (Speedway, Ind.) collected second-team All-ECC honors in her first year with the program. She registered her fourth top ten finish of the year, as she placed ninth with a time of 19:06.6. She clipped 25 seconds off her previous best time of 19:31.5, which she set on the same course during the Harry F. Anderson Invitational earlier this year.
  • Senior Sarah Golas (Alden, N.Y.) and freshman Emma Cain (Lockport, N.Y.) also figured in the team scoring today and both earned second-team all conference honors.
  • Golas came in 42 seconds faster than her previous personal best time and placed 11th with a time of 19:15.8. Her time today was two minutes faster than the time she posted at the 2019 ECC Championships and and improved on her previous personal-best time of 19:57.3 which she posted at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational earlier this year.
  • Cain broke the 20 minute barrier for the first time and knocked an impressive 49 seconds off her previous best time in the process. She placed 14th with a time of 19:32.8—demolishing her previous best time of 20:21.7 that she set at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational last month.
  • Sophomore Camryn Bailey (Geneva, N.Y.) also cracked the 20 minute mark for the first time in her career and placed 16th with a time of 19:45.1—eclipsing her previous best time of 20:33.8 she posted last weekend at the Canisius Alumni Classic.
  • Redshirt junior Hannah Thomas (Cheektowaga, N.Y.), sophomore Emma Grzebinski (West Seneca, N.Y.) and redshirt senior Amanda Bushway (East Aurora, N.Y.) rounded out the field of Daemen runners.
  • Thomas placed 22nd (20:22.5), Grzebisski placed 30th (21:22.8) and Bushway finished 31st (21:26.7).


Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 18 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

Follow the Daemen College women's cross country program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenXC_TRACK.

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