Cross Country Keeps Up the Pace
This past weekend, several Colgate runners headed down to Hammonassett Park, Connecticut to take part in the Northeast Regional Qualifiers for the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Despite feeling a little under the weather this weekend, Colgate star junior Elise DeRoo was able to place sixth overall in the race, which was good enough to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Even with DeRoo’s strong performance, however, the Raiders were only able to muster a 15th place team finish in the presence of such tough competition.
DeRoo finished the race in a brisk 20:16.3, and was followed in 39th place by classmate and teammate Chelsea Burns, who crossed the finish line in 21:18. Senior captain Julie Tarallo finished third on Colgate’s squad, completing the race in 22:06.7.
“Elise sets the bar pretty high for herself, and so naturally each person wants to keep up with the person ahead of herself on the team, so it’s a bit of a domino effect,” Head Coach Laura Nardelli said.
The Raiders accumulated 394 points as a team. Syracuse took home first place in the team portion of the tournament, with a low score of 78 points. It was followed in second place by Stony Brook, who finished with 83 points. Providence took home third place overall, totaling 87 points at the meet.
The men’s team did not have quite the same amount of success as the women’s team did. Colgate placed 25th overall in the 10K team standings, with a total of 662 points. Sophomore Chris Johnson was Colgate’s top performer, crossing the finish line in 31:29.2. The time was good enough for 60th place overall in the individual standings. Syracuse took home first place once again in the men’s portion, finishing with 56 points. The Orangemen were followed by Iona (63 points) and Providence (113).
Navy’s Andrew Hanko will be the Patriot League’s other representative in the NCAA Championships. This year marks the second year in a row in which both Hanko and DeRoo advanced to the Championships. DeRoo will have the next 10 days or so to prepare for the meet.
“At this point in the season it’s all about staying healthy, so I’ll be doing some easy mileage and a few fast workouts, but nothing too over the top,” DeRoo said.
The NCAA Championships will be held on November 22 at Indiana State University in Terra Haute, Indiana.
