Meet #8: 2024 NCAA Division II Women's Cross Country National Championships
Date: Saturday, Nov. 23 | Sacramento, CA | Arcade Creek Cross Country Course
Start Time: 2:15 PM (PST)
Distance: 6K
Links: Live Stream |
Live Timing |
Championship Central
RUNNERS TAKE YOUR MARKS
For the second time in three years, the Daemen University women's cross country team will race in the NCAA Division II National Championships. The Wildcats' top seven runners will race the 6K championship distance in Sacramento, CA at the Arcade Creek Cross Country Course along with the other 379 participants at Nationals on Saturday afternoon at 2:15 PM (PST), 5:15 PM ET.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Daemen clinched an automatic bid to Nationals for the second time after a third-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Division II East Region Championship on Saturday, Nov. 9 in Rochester, N.Y. The top three teams in each regional punch their ticket to the National Championships, along with the top two finishers not on one of the top three teams. The Wildcats placed two runners in the top 10 finishers in the race and totaled 118 points in their third-place team finish at Regionals. Graduate students
Courtney Merrill (Speedway, Ind.) and
Camryn Bailey (Geneva, N.Y.) pushed each other across the finish line and each earned top-10 finishes at the East Region Championships for the first time in their careers as Merrill placed eighth and Bailey finished ninth out of 135 runners. Merrill was the first Wildcat across the line for the sixth straight meet, posting a 6K PR time of 22:14.5. Merrill shaved 33 seconds off her previous 6K PR (22:47.9) set at the Paul Short Run on Oct. 5 and earned All-Region honors for the second time in her Daemen career. Bailey posted a career-best finish, crossing the line right after Merrill with a time of 22:15.7 for a PR, shaving 25 seconds off her previous best (22:40.88) set at the 2023 East Region Championships and earned All-Region honors for the third consecutive season. Junior
Christa Oates (Tonawanda, N.Y.) was the third Wildcat across the line, placing 27th overall with a PR time of 23:01.5. Oates' time was nearly a minute faster than her previous 6K best time (23:51.9) set at the Paul Short Run on Oct. 5. Junior
Patsy Oberholzer (Greece, N.Y.) finished just 18 seconds behind Oates with a 30th-place finish and a time of 23:18.7. Graduate student
Emma Grzebinski (West Seneca, N.Y.) finished fifth on the team for the second consecutive meet to round out the Daemen scorers with a PR time of 23:51.4. It marked the first sub-24 minute 6K time for the grad student as Grzebinski shaved over 30 seconds faster than her previous best (24:26.5) set at the Oct. 5 Paul Short Run. Senior
Emma Cain (Lockport, N.Y.) posted a time of 24:05.5 to place 52nd overall on the day. Freshman
Lia Brasacchio (Victor, N.Y.) was the seventh Daemen runner, placing 57th overall in her first East Region Championship with a PR time of 24:17.6, 16 seconds faster than her previous best (24:33.6) at the Paul Short Run.
WOMEN'S 2024 SEASON AT A GLANCE
The Wildcat women had another successful 2024 campaign, putting up four top-three finishes on the year after finishing third of six teams at the season opening Doug Watts Open on Sept. 7 and placing first out of five teams at their home meet, the Daemen Alumni Invitational on Sept. 14. The Wildcats went on to place 6th of 22 at the competitive Harry F. Anderson Invitational on Sept. 28, finishing 31st of 35 teams at the prestigious Paul Short Run on Oct. 5 and placing fifth of eight at the Canisius Alumni Invitational on Oct. 19 after pack running ahead of the ECC Championships. Daemen finished second at the 2024 ECC Championships with a team score of 52 after placing four runners in the top-12 to earn All-ECC honors. Merrill and Bailey each earned First Team All-ECC honors after placing sixth and seventh in the race at the Wildcats' home course of Bassett Park. The Wildcat runners posted 20 personal records during the regular season and have been led by Merrill in six of the seven meets throughout the year. Bailey led the Wildcats in the Doug Watts Open and has finished second on the team in five of the six meets.
BEEN HERE BEFORE
Four of Daemen's top seven runners traveled to Seattle on the 2022 team that advanced to the National Championship for the first time in program history. Merrill, Bailey and Cain stood on the starting line two years ago as the Wildcats made history, and Oberholzer traveled with the team but was sick on race day. Two years ago, the Daemen team was the first team in program history to advance to Nationals, and were also the first women's cross country team, in any NCAA Division, from Western New York to make it to the National Championships. In the 2022 race, Daemen finished 33rd out of 34 teams, beating rivals Roberts Wesleyan in the race. Wildcat graduate student Kassandra Nolet paced the Wildcats and finished 173rd overall, followed by Marcy Colca who placed 203rd in the 6K. Bailey finished 212th overall with a time of 23:32.9 to mark her second-fastest 6K at the time, and was followed by Merrill who placed fourth on the team and 230th overall with a time of 24:00.3.
Hannah Thomas finished fifth on the team at 236th overall, and Cain rounded out the six Wildcats who ran at Nationals with a 256th place finish in the snowy race.
WOMEN'S LINEUP
| RUNNER |
@ EAST REGION CHAMPIONSHIP (FINISHING PLACE) |
2022 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS (FINISHING PLACE) |
PERSONAL BEST 6K TIME (DATE) |
| Camryn Bailey |
22:15.7 (9/135) |
23:32.9 (212/263) |
22:15.7 (11/9/24) |
| Lia Brasacchio |
24:17.6 (57/135) |
N/A |
24:17.6 (11/9/24) |
| Emma Cain |
24:05.5 (52/135) |
25:00.1 (256/263) |
23:34.7 (11/4/23) |
| Emma Grzebinski |
23:51.4 (44/135) |
N/A |
23:51.4 (11/9/24) |
| Courtney Merrill |
22:14.5 (8/135) |
24:00.3 (230/263) |
22:14.5 (11/9/24) |
| Christa Oates |
23:01.5 (27/135) |
N/A |
23:01.5 (11/9/24) |
| Patsy Oberholzer |
23:18.7 (30/135) |
N/A |
22:56.7 (11/4/23) |
Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 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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