COLCHESTER, N.Y. -- Whether it's a 4K, a 5K or an 8K, the Daemen University women's cross country team can, and will, win it. The Wildcats raced to their third consecutive first place team win in their
first ever 8K in the Equality Invitational on Sunday morning.
Daemen placed five runners in the top-10 in their first 8K of their collegiate cross country careers. For the third straight meet, sophomore
Marcy Colca (Getzville, N.Y.) led the way. Colca posted a first place time of 31:09.8, leading the field of 29 runners on the day. Graduate student
Kassandra Nolet (Fort Erie, Ont.) finished third overall with a time of 31:02.6.
Senior
Courtney Merrill (Speedway, Ind.) posted a 32:50.2 time and crossing the finish line fourth overall. Freshman
Patsy Oberholzer (Greece, N.Y.) finished four seconds behind Merrill for a fifth-place finish with a time of 32:54.3.
Junior
Camryn Bailey (Geneva, N.Y.) rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats in the top ten, placing seventh overall with a time of 33:33.0.
The Wildcats finished first overall for the third straight meet, placing five runners in the top-10 and posting a total of 20 points to take home the team title. Mansfield finished second (35), and host Saint Michael's placed third (80).
This is the first time in the NCAA era that Daemen has won the first three races of the season. The Wildcats earned four first-place finishes in the 2021 season.
Daemen has a week off next weekend, but returns to action on Oct. 8 when they travel to Houghton, N.Y. to participate in the Highlander Invitational.
EQUALITY INVITATIONAL FULL RESULTS
HIGHLIGHTS
- Colca's three straight victories mark the first time in Daemen's NCAA Division II history that a Wildcat runner has placed first in three consecutive meets. Colca placed first overall in the Frank Dillon Memorial Invitational 4K race to open up the season, and ran a personal-best 5K time (18:40.8) to finish first in the Daemen Alumni Invitational on Sept. 10.
- Nolet competed in her 22nd race of her career, and her first career 8K. She finished second overall behind Colca in the Frank Dillon Memorial (4K) in the season opener, and second overall in the Daemen Alumni Invitational.
- Bailey has finished seventh overall in the past two races.
- Sophomore Emma Cain (Lockport, N.Y.) earned a 12th place finish with a time of 34:20.4, finishing sixth on the Daemen team.
- Redshirt senior Hannah Thomas (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) finished seven seconds behind Cain at 34:27.2 to finish 13th overall.
- Juniors Emma Grzebinski (West Seneca, N.Y.) and Haley Hinds (Blossvale, N.Y.) crossed the finish line right behind Thomas. Grzebinski posted a time of 34:47.2 to finish 14th, while Hinds placed 15th with a time of 35:10.5.
- Freshman Madeline Straub (Olean, N.Y.) finished in the top 20, placing 19th with a time of 35:40.2. Fellow freshmen Hayley Pizur (Grand Island, N.Y.) and Kennedy Pino (Spencerport, N.Y.) clocked in at 23 and 24, respectively. Pizur posted a time of 38:04.5, while Pino came in at 38:32.1.
- Senior Keagan Carroll (Woodbridge, P.A.) rounded out the race, finishing 19th with a time of 42:38.4.
