CORTLAND, N.Y. - The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) announces this season's women's cross country annual awards, as voted on by the conference coaches. The top awards include the Runner of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Coach of the Year.
Runner of the Year - Genny Corcoran, Geneseo
Corcoran had a successful senior year with plenty of first place finishes including the SUNYAC championship. She ran the 6K race in 22:08.8 beating the competition by 48 seconds. Corcoran also helped lead the Knights to their ninth straight conference title with 23 points. Geneseo earned an automatic bid into the NCAA championship meet where Corcoran finished second nationally (21:11.8) averaging a 5:41.1 mile. The team finished 10th overall. Corcoran was the SUNYAC Runner of the Week twice this season and was named to the 2019 women's cross country all-conference first team.
Rookie of the Year - Windsor Ardner, Geneseo
Ardner placed fifth in the SUNYAC championship race helping Geneseo take home another conference championship. Ardner ran the 6K race in 23:15.8 and was one of three runners from Geneseo in the top five. The freshman was named to the SUNYAC all-conference first team based on her performance during the conference championship. In her first season, Ardner had the opportunity to run in the NCAA championship in which she placed 89th out of 280 runners.
Coach of the Year - Aislinn Ryan, New Paltz
Ryan was named head coach of the Hawks just before the start of the 2019 season. In their first season, they led their women's team to a second place finish in the SUNYAC championship meet with 50 points. The Hawks finished with an average time of 23:49.9 and had four runners finish in the top 15 to earn all-conference honors. Ryan coached two individual runners, Emily Cavanaugh and Cassandra Williams, to qualify for the NCAA championship.