Colca Named Female Newcomer of the Year

5/6/2022 7:51:00 PM

AMHERST, N.Y. – Long distance runner Marcy Colca (Getzville, N.Y.) has been named the 2021-22 Daemen University Female Newcomer of the Year. The announcement was made this evening at the Wildcat Night of Honors, an annual event held to recognize the achievements of the university's intercollegiate teams and student-athletes.

Colca's selection comes as she's made an immediate impact in her freshman season with both the Daemen women's cross country and track and field teams. Her performances helped Daemen achieve four first-place finishes during the fall cross country season and the program's best finish ever at the East Coast Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in February.

Colca opened the cross country season by placing first at the Frank Dillon Memorial Invitational hosted by Le Moyne College on Sept. 4. She would go on to total five top-10 finishes in seven cross country races, including a runner-up performance at the Daemen Duels on Sept. 11. She was a two-time ECC Rookie of the Week honoree during the regular season.

At the ECC Cross Country Championships on Oct. 23, Colca ran to a seventh-place finish with a personal best 5K time of 18:54.9. She earned First Team All-ECC honors for the performance, becoming the third freshman in program history to do so.

Just two weeks later, Colca placed 17th out of 139 entrants at the NCAA Division II East Region Championships. It marked the first 6K race of her collegiate career. She posted a time of 22:26.4 and was named to the All-East Region Team by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Switching gears to track and field, Colca competed at three different distances (one mile, 3,000 meters, 5,000 meters) during the indoor season. She earned First Team All-ECC honors for her efforts in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters at the conference championship meet. She ran a personal best 3,000 meter time of 10:27.10, placing second in the event. She picked up medalist honors with a time of 17:45.10 in the 5,000 meters - the second fastest time in program history which also earned her a spot on the USTFCCCA All-East Region Team.

Colca's stellar freshman campaign has continued through the outdoor track and field season. She placed first in the 5,000 meters at the UB Invitational on Apr. 23, posting a time of 17:38.12. She is entered in the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races at this Sunday's ECC Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Colca becomes the first cross country/track specialist to earn the award, which was instituted following the 2016-17 season. Past recipients include soccer player Jamie Boyar (2017), triathlete Amber Custodi (2018), volleyball player Isa McCaffrey and basketball player Katie Titus (2019), triathlete Courtney Merrill (2020) and basketball player Alahna Paige (2021).

Additional Female Newcomer of the Year nominees this year were volleyball player Olivia Alessi (East Aurora, N.Y.), soccer player Alyssa Diaz (Rochester, N.Y.) and bowler Mollie Gizicki (Brighton, Mich.).

Daemen University 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.

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