BUFFALO, N.Y.- The Columbia women's cross country team pulled ahead of the competition at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships after a snowy run at Audubon Golf Course in Buffalo.
The women entered regionals as the No. 1 ranked team in the Northeast after capturing their second straight Ivy League Heps title two weeks prior and held form with their first NCAA Regional title since 2002. The men's squad finished eighth out of 34 teams, ahead of fellow Ivy runners from Harvard, Cornell and Yale.
"The women ran incredibly well in not great conditions, it was a really wet, snowy ground. They were fit and ready to run," Columbia Director of Cross Country Dan Ireland, said. "We ran really well and executed the race plan really well. Libby got ahead, stayed and battled in the front pack and
Maria Kogan ran awesome today."
Seniors
Libby Kokes and
Erin Gregoire continued to lead the Lions through to the finish line. Kokes finished with a time of 21:43.6 over the 6K course, ranking her fourth among the field of 243 runners. Gregoire crossed the line in seventh place and a time of 22:00.4.
Katie Wasserman and
Maria Kogan followed closely behind Gregoire, taking home eighth and ninth place, respectively. Wasserman posted a time of 22:08.0 and Kogan was one second behind at 22:09.0. Alexandra Hays was the fifth finisher for Columbia, completing the course in 22:14.1 landing her 13th in the field.
For the men's 10k race, sophomore
Dominic Dyer was the first to finish from Columbia, marking a 33:42.0 time and a 28th place finish. Senior
Dan Schumacher finished in 33:47.2; 33rd to cross the line.
Second team All-Ivy runner,
Kenny Vasbinder, was the third finisher for the Lions, finishing 54th with a time of 34:22.4.
Tyler Italiano finished in the 67th spot with a time of 34:32.0. Rounding out the top five finishers for Columbia is first year
David Vorbach, coming in at 34:50.5 for 90th place in the 241 runner field.
"Syracuse is ranked ahead of us in some polls but they finished behind us today. There are 31 teams in the nationals, but we hope to be in the top half of teams, if not the top-20," Ireland said. "It is a good day for our girls and our program"
The NCAA Cross Country Championships take place next Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin.
