AMHERST, N.Y. - For the second week this season, runners
Marcy Colca (Getzville, N.Y.),
Patsy Oberholzer (Greece, N.Y.) and
Aidan Kincaid (Orchard Park, N.Y.) of the Daemen University cross country teams have each been awarded by the East Coast Conference for their performances for the week of September 19 through 25. Colca picked up her third consecutive ECC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week, Oberholzer earned ECC Women's Rookie of the Week for the third straight week, and Kincaid was named ECC Men's Rookie of the Week for the second week in a row. The official announcement was made via the
ECC's weekly sport report, released on Monday afternoon.
Colca was named Women's Runner of the Week for the third straight time this season after an outstanding race at the Equality Invitational in Colchester, V.T. on Sunday. Running in the
historic first 8K of her cross country career, Colca earned her third-straight first place finish, leading the field of 29 runners with a time of 31:09.8. Her three straight victories marks the first time in Daemen's NCAA Division II history that a Wildcat runner has placed first in three consecutive meets. Colca led the way as the first of five Wildcat runners to finish in the top-10, with graduate student
Kassandra Nolet (Fort Erie, Ont.) posting a bronze time of 31:02.6, and senior
Courtney Merrill (Speedway, Ind.) crossing the finish line fourth overall at 32:50.2.
After taking home ECC Runner of the Week honors for the past two weeks, Colca is the first Daemen runner in program history to earn three consecutive conference Runner of the Week awards.
Oberholzer continues to make a statement this season, earning her third consecutive Rookie of the Week nod. The freshman has placed in the top-10 in each of her first three races, all of different distances. Oberholzer finished fifth overall on Sunday, posting an 8K time of 32:54.3 at the Equality Invitational. Colca and Oberholzer's efforts on the course helped Daemen to a program-record three consecutive first place finishes, earning a total of 20 points to win the team title, 15 points lower than the second-place Mansfield team.
With her third-straight Rookie of the Week award, Oberholzer ties Mackenzie Donahue (2013) as the only Daemen runner to win three consecutive conference Rookie of the Week honors.
Kincaid picks up his second straight ECC rookie of the Week after achieving a personal best at the Equality Invitational. The freshman shaved 42 seconds off his collegiate debut time (29:43.2 at the Daemen Alumni Invitational) as he placed 14th overall with a PR time of 29:01.0. In just the second race of his college career, Kincaid finished fifth on the team, and helped the Wildcats to their third-straight second place team finish.
Jon Moote (Wilson, N.Y.) finished first overall in the race with a personal best time of 26:41.6, which lands him eighth overall in the Daemen 8K record book.
Connor O'Brien (Hamburg, N.Y.) finished sixth for the second time this season with a time of 28:04.5, and
Phil Ceccarelli placed eighth with a PR time of 28:20.1.
Kincaid is the first Daemen runner to take home multiple ECC Rookie of the Week honors since Matt Cregan in 2013.
The Daemen women are ranked second among ten teams in the East Region in the
2022 NCAA Division II Preseason Regional Rankings, released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Colca, Oberholzer and Kincaid are off this weekend, but will return to action on Saturday, October 8 when they travel to Houghton, N.Y. to run in the Highlander Invitational hosted by Houghton.
