WATERVILLE, Me. (November 2, 2021) – The North Atlantic Conference (NAC) issued its cross country year-end awards today, with several SUNY Delhi distinctions following the women's and men's first and second respective team finishes from Saturday's league championships.
First-year head coach Zach Brown was named the Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year after guiding the program to their second consecutive NAC title by having seven runners finish All-NAC for 29 points. The men produced four all-league finishers, including three on the first team, to place second on the team podium. Including their time in the ACAA, the SUNY Delhi women have won three consecutive NCAA Division III conference titles and four since 2016. The men have finished in the top two at every league championship since 2016, including four consecutive conference crowns from 2016 to 2019.
Both Coach Brown and assistant coach Ben Finnigan had a productive first fall leading SUNY Delhi's storied cross country programs, starting with both teams sweeping the Hartwick Invitational on Sept. 1. The men finished high at meets against mainly NCAA Division I and II institutions, including second at Le Moyne's 6K on Sept. 4 and fourth at UAlbany's 8K on Oct. 15. The women wrangled up three total NAC weekly honors, including Katerina Salcedo and Kristina Messler earning Runner and Rookie of the Week, respectively, after their impressive runs at Hartwick and Le Moyne to start the season. Messler then swept both Runner and Rookie honors for her performance at Vassar's 5K the following week.
The women's Kailyn Oreglio (Kingston, NY / Kingston) and the men's Sam Lees (Delancey, NY / Delaware Academy) were selected as part of the NAC Sportsmanship Team. This honor is reserved for those who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior. The honorees have positively affected the sport culture and race environment by clearly demonstrating sportsmanship and integrity beyond playing rules and etiquette.
In the women's 5K title chase, junior Sophie Stewart was the Broncos' top finisher placing fourth (23:10.8), serving as the tip of the iceberg in Delhi's seven-runner takeover of the top 15. They all came in between ninth and 15th place, featuring Marissa Lombardi (ninth at 24:18.6), Mary Lyons (tenth at 24:22.8), Kristina Messler (11th at 24:31.5), Kailyn Oreglio (12th at 24:41.2), Shyanne Lawton (14th at 24:49.2), and Katerina Salcedo (15th at 24:57.0).
The men ran excellent races to secure the second spot in the 8K meet, led by Seth Bywater's silver finish in a time of 27:42.7, just ten seconds behind the top finisher, Eamonn Sullivan from champion SUNY Cobleskill. John Amenta (28:39.2) and Aidan Cutting (28:44.5) finished sixth and seventh, respectively for First Team, while Lewis Race (29:25.8) tucked in at 14th place for Second Team. Rounding out the bunch was Mathew Sabolenko in 25th place at 30:39.6, Sam Lees 29th at 30:56.2, and Caleb Jeralds 33rd at 31:06.8.
The Broncos look to build upon this pace when they head to their first-ever NCAA Regional Championships next Saturday, Nov. 13 at SUNY Geneseo for the Niagara Region meet. SUNY Delhi previewed this course back on Oct. 2 at Geneseo's Mike Woods Invitational.
