October 9, 2021

The Basics

• The lead: Senior Erin Miceli continued her strong start, leading the Stevens Institute of Technology women's cross country team Saturday at the DeSales Invitational, hosted by DeSales University.
• Location: DeSales University Cross Country Course - Center Valley, Pennsylvania
• Short Story: Using a 6:37.64 mile pace, Miceli completed the six-kilometer course in a time of 24:42.5 to lead Stevens' eight-runner contingent, finishing 28th out of 179 runners Misericordia University's Olivia Visaggio won the individual title with a time of 22:48.9. The Cougars captured the team title with a composite score of 55 points and an average team course completion time of 23:48. The Ducks finished eighth out of the 19 competing schools with a score of 219, averaging 25:26 in the second 6K of the season. The course will serve as the host site of the Middle Atlantic Conference Championship. 

Top Finishers

• Stevens' top-five finishers were spread by 1:55 and the Ducks' top seven were separated by 2:33.1. 
• Senior Trinity Lundemo was the second finisher for the Ducks, using a 6:38.45 mile pace to place 31st with a time of 24:45.5.
• In her second collegiate 6K, sophomore Jacqueline Lulaj placed third for the Ducks, crossing the finish in 25:28.4. Classmate Fionna Feerick 6.4 seconds later, crossing the finish in 25:34.8.
• Senior Caroline Corr was the final Duck to score, reaching the finish in 26:37.5 in her first 6K of the season.
• Junior Rachel Pinho (26:39.0), first-year Mia Petrolino (27:15.6) and sophomore Gabriella Toryk (28.01.9) rounded out the Ducks' contingent. The event marked Petrolino's first collegiate six-kilometer race, while Toryk trimmed nearly six seconds off her time in her second event.

From the Course - Head Coach Lance Harden

• "This was our first-ever trip to DeSales' cross country course, so it served as an important preview for our upcoming MAC Championships. The course is old-school, starting in their main quad and heading continuously uphill for the entire first mile into neighboring corn fields. The men then have a series of challenging hills throughout the second mile and start of the third mile, while the women head back down the same incline through the quad again. The men run downhill from around 2.5 miles to almost the four-mile mark, before finishing with one extended hill in the beginning of the final mile. The women navigate a series of turns and short hills at the beginning of the third mile before ascending one longer hill just before the three-mile mark. We're really glad that we raced here today, as now we have clear adjustments to make for MAC's."
• "Our women got out conservatively over the first mile and had to maneuver their way through dense traffic in order to move up in the field. Several of them ran over a minute faster for their second mile than the first due to the difference in grade—that's not something you see very often in collegiate XC! Jacqueline Lulaj, Fionna Feerick, and Rachel Pinho did a solid job of executing our race plan by continuing to pass competitors over the final 2800 meters of the race. Trinity Lundemo took another step forward from last week. Like the men, our team score suffered from a large gap between our fourth and fifth finishers. We will have to reduce our spread to be competitive in three weeks."

Up Next

• Women's cross country returns to the course on Saturday, Oct. 16 for the Interregional Border Battle, hosted by Rowan University at the Gloucester County DREAM Park. The site will also serve as the host course for the inaugural Metro Region Championship in mid-November.

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