CORTLAND, N.Y. - The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) is proud to announce that there will be three teams and four individuals representing the SUNYAC in the NCAA DIII Cross Country Championship, Saturday hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh at the Lake Breeze Golf Club, in Winneconne, Wisconsin. The women's 6k race will begin at 11:15 a.m. with the men's 8k race to follow at 12:15 p.m.
The DIII NCAA Cross Country Championship consists of 32 teams (16 automatic qualifiers, 16 selected at-large) and fifty-six individual athletes that are not part of one of the teams that qualified.
In order to qualify for the NCAA championships the teams competed in the DIII NCAA Atlantic Regional championships. The regional consists of 32 teams from the region. The top two, seven-person teams automatically qualify for the championship and the top seven individual finishers, that are not part of one of the qualifying teams, get selected.
Men's Team Qualifiers
Geneseo - The SUNYAC champions continued their strong season at the Atlantic Regional championships by finishing in second place with an average time of 26:38 and 59 total points. The first place team, RPI, finished first with an average time of 26:23 and a total of 26 points. Geneseo's fastest finisher was Sean McAneny, he finished in second place with a time of 26:05. The Knights have won 18 SUNYAC championships, including the last five. This is Geneseo's 16th straight trip to the NCAA championship, they will be looking to win their first title.
Oneonta - The Red Dragons were one of 16 teams selected to earn an at-large bid to the championship. They finished in fourth place at the Atlantic Regional Championship with an average time of 27:04 and 145 points. Oneonta's top finisher, junior Ethan McDonald, finished in 10th place with a time of 26:39. Oneonta finished in second place at the SUNYAC championship. This will be their second time sending the entire team to the NCAA championships, they finished in 22nd place in 2016.
Women's Team Qualifier
Geneseo - After winning the SUNYAC Championship for an eighth straight year the Knights went to the Atlantic Regional Championship and continued winning. They finished in first place with an average time of 22:30 and a score of 28. Geneseo had four out of the top six finishers in the race: 1st - Elise Ramirez (21:50), 3rd - Genny Concoran (22:08), 5th - Dana Cebulski (22:46), 6th - Allie Fernandez (22:46). The Knights will be competing in the NCAA championship for the 20th straight year and are looking to win for the first time since they won it in 2005.
Women's Individual Qualifiers
Emily Cavanagh (New Paltz) - The junior from Warwick, N.Y. earned a spot in the NCAA championship by finishing in 10th place at the Atlantic Regional. Cavanagh had the second best time for individual qualifiers, finishing the course in 22:52. She came in sixth at the SUNYAC championship with a time of 24:39.
Allison Miller (Brockport) - The Ridge, N.Y. native qualified for the NCAA championship with a 17th place finish and a time of 23:09 at the Atlantic Regional. At the SUNYAC Championship she finished in 10th place with a time of 25:27. She is the first Brockport athlete to go to the NCAA cross country championship since 2015.
Veronica Kordrupel (Buffalo State) - Kordrupel is Buffalo State's first cross country runner to qualify for the NCAA championships. She qualified by completing the 6k course at the Atlantic Regional in 23:13.1 which was good for 18th place. At the SUNYAC championship the runner out of East Aurora, N.Y. finished in 8th place with a time 25:06.
Krista Kicsak (Brockport) - Kicsak earned qualification to the NCAA championship by crossing the finish line at Athlantic Regional with a time of 23:13.4, which earned her 19th place. The senior out of Johnson City, N.Y. helped Brockport finish in fourth at the SUNYAC championship by finishing in 12th with a time of 25:36. She will join teammate Allison Miller as the first Brockport athletes at the NCAA championship since 2015.
