CORTLAND, NY – The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) has determined the winners of its yearly awards for women's cross country. These awards include Runner of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year, all voted on by the coaches.
Runner of the Year: Elise Ramirez, Geneseo
The junior from Nesconset, N.Y. had an outstanding season for the Knights this year leading them to a SUNYAC championship and an automatic berth into the 2017 NCAA DIII Women's Cross Country Championship race. Ramirez was named SUNYAC Athlete of the Week for women's cross country three times this season with an impressive four top-ten finishes, including three top-two finishes, in the six meets she competed in this season. Her best finishes came in the 2017 SUNYAC Women's Cross Country National Championship where she placed first with a time of 22.22.2 in the 6k and in the NCAA Division III Atlantic Region Cross Country Championships, placing second in the 6K out of 285 runners finishing in 21:43.9. Ramirez finished her season placing 46th out of 279 total participants in the national championship race with a time of 21:42.9.
Co-Rookie of the Year: Jasmine Roberts, Plattsburgh
Roberts, a freshman from Albany, N.Y., had a very impressive start to her collegiate career as she placed first in the Kinetic Running Cardinal Classic 5k and third in the Potsdam Invitational 5k with times of 18:21.3 and 19:09.4 in her first two races for Plattsburgh. She added a 12th place finish out of 221 runners in the Saratoga Invitational 5k with a time of 18:19.0, as well as placing 15th out of 273 at the Connecticut College Invitational 6k completing the race in 23:08.2. On top of this award, Roberts also received the honor of SUNYAC Athlete of the Week for women's cross country twice this season.
Co-Rookie of the Year: Carissa Ditullio, Geneseo
DiTullio, a freshman from Lockport, N.Y., also had a notable debut season with two top-three finishes in her first two races as a Knight as well as finishing the season strong to help Geneseo earn a conference championship and team berth into the 2017 NCAA DIII Women's Cross Country National Championship. She placed third in her first collegiate meet with a time of 14:58.9 at the Brockport Early Season Short Course 4K and followed that up with a first place finish in the Oswego State Invitational 5k at the 19:45.0 mark. DiTullio's other noteworthy finishes came in the SUNYAC Cross Country Championship 6k race where she finished seventh in 23:14.6 and in the NCAA Division III Atlantic Region Cross Country Championship 6k race where her finish time of 22:39.7 was enough to place 19th in a field of 285 total competitors.
Coach of the Year: Dan Moore, Geneseo
Moore entered his third season as the head coach for both Geneseo men's and women's cross country teams and has earned his third consecutive SUNYAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year award. Moore guided both his men and women to a SUNYAC championship, NCAA Atlantic Regional title and automatic team berth to the NCAA Division III Atlantic Region Cross Country National Championship this season. Throughout the season his teams were consistently ranked in the top-five nationally, with both teams ending the season third in the USTFCCCA poll. In the national championship women's 6k race, the Knights finished sixth out of the thirty-two teams that qualified to compete.