WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. - Graduate student Courtney Merrill (Indianapolis, Ind.) finished as the race runner-up to lead the Daemen University women's cross country team to a first-place showing at the Daemen Alumni Invitational held this morning at Bassett Park. It marks the fourth consecutive season that Daemen has won its own invitational meet.
FULL RESULTS
Alexa Briggs of Niagara University took home medalist honors, placing first with a time of 18:56.7. But then came Merrill, finishing the 5K race in 19:10.6, just four seconds shy of her personal best time which was set at the 2021 East Coast Conference Championship meet.
Graduate student Camryn Bailey (Geneva, N.Y.) posted her fifth top-10 finish since the start of the 2023 season, placing fifth today with a time of 19:30.8.
Junior Christa Oates (Tonawanda, N.Y.) set a new personal benchmark, finishing in 12th place with a time of 20:04.7. She shaved some 27 seconds off her previous personal best which was just set at last week's Doug Watts Open hosted by Edinboro University.
Freshman Lia Brasacchio (Victor, N.Y.) and senior Emma Cain (Lockport, N.Y.) rounded out Daemen's five scorers in the meet. Brasacchio, racing in just her second collegiate meet, also went lower than her Doug Watts Open time, finishing 15th with a time of 20:14.1. Cain placed 17th with a time of 20:33.5.
Emma Grzebinski (West Seneca, N.Y.), Patsy Oberholzer (Greece, N.Y.), Madeline Straub (Olean, N.Y.), Kylie Piekarski (Lancaster, N.Y.), Hayley Pizur (Grand Island, N.Y.) and Meagan Zupo (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) also competed for Daemen today, placing between 18th and 35th. Piekarski and Zupo, both first-year collegiate runners, each set personal bests with times of 21:50.2 and 22:31.8, respectively.
Several Daemen alumni also competed in today's race, including Hannah Thomas, Sarah Lewalski, Haley Hinds and Amanda Bushway. Thomas paced the alumni harriers with a time of 20:25.4, good for 16th place.
Daemen totaled 50 points in the team standings, a healthy 15-point advantage over second-place Niagara. D'Youville University (77 points), Roberts Wesleyan University (79) and Le Moyne College (87) rounded out the team scores.
The Wildcats are idle next week and will return to racing Saturday, Sept. 28 when they trek to Roberts Wesleyan University for the Harry F. Anderson Invitational.
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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