Philadelphia Claims 2015 CACC Women's Cross Country Championship
WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
WOMEN'S TEAM RESULTS
PHOTO GALLERY OF CACC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (October 25, 2015) – Keyed by five all-conference runners, the Philadelphia University women’s cross country team cruised to the 2015 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship on Sunday morning at Belmont Plateau Park in Philadelphia, Pa. It marked the program’s seventh CACC title in the last eight years dating back to 2008.
Leading the pack for the Rams was senior Emilie Barton, who finished in second place with a time of 20:03.6, marking the second-straight year she finished among the top-two in the individual standings to earn All-CACC honors.
Barton finished ahead of 86 runners (88 total competitors), but the one she was not able to best was Wilmington University’s Megan Ferrick, who claimed the individual title with an outstanding first-place time of 19:54.5. She was the lone harrier to finish the 5k championship race in a time under 20 minutes. By winning the race, Ferrick not only earned All-CACC accolades, but also was crowned the CACC Runner of the Year.
Ferrick, who pulled ahead of Barton midway through the race during a stretch of course in the woods, helped WilmU finish fourth with a score of 139.
PhilaU’s team championship came in a total of 31 points. In addition to Barton’s showing, Victoria Frisbie, Alyssa Litty and Juliana Coculo also turned in top-10 finishes in fourth, fifth and ninth place, respectively. Frisbie posted a mark of 20:21.7, while Litty followed in 20:23.1 and Coculo was 20:43.6. Coculo was the highest rookie finisher in the race and in the process was crowned CACC Rookie of the Year. Jessica Thies was the fifth Ram to earn all-league honors, as she placed 11th in a time of 20:52.
Nyack College finished in second place (60 points) in the team standings, as four Warriors earned All-CACC accolades by placing among the top-15. Ariana Nash, Nicole Pagan and Stefani Ritter each finished among the top-10 in sixth, seventh and 10th place, respectively. Georgian Court University followed in third place with 98 points keyed by the duo of Jessica Handsaker (3rd) and Hannah Vendetta (14th), who each collected All-CACC hardware.
Also of note from Sunday’s race were three runners who earned All-CACC honors for the fourth time in their amazing collegiate careers. Barton and Litty each achieved the honor for PhilaU, while University of the Sciences’ standout Brianna Ligotski finished eighth to earn an all-league accolade in each of her four years competing at the conference championship.
The top-15 runners in the championship race earned all-conference honors. For a complete list of all the award winners from Sunday’s race, please view the list below:
2015 ALL-CACC WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
1. Megan Ferrick (Wilmington) ... 19:54.5
2. Emilie Barton (Philadelphia) ... 20:03.6
3. Jessica Handsaker (Georgian Court) ... 20:17.1
4. Victoria Frisbie (Philadelphia) ... 20:21.7
5. Alyssa Litty (Philadelphia) ... 20:23.1
6. Ariana Nash (Nyack) ... 20:31.3
7. Nicole Pagan (Nyack) ... 20:34.2
8. Brianna Ligotski (USciences) ... 20:36.8
9. Juliana Coculo (Philadelphia) ... 20:43.6
10. Stefani Ritter (Nyack) ... 20:49.9
11. Jessica Thies (Philadelphia) ... 20:52.0
12. D’liyah Brown (Bloomfield) ... 20:56.5
13. Sara-Caitrin Mandelburg (Nyack) ... 20:57.3
14. Hannah Vendetta (Georgian Court) ... 20:58.7
15. Ces Coleman (Holy Family) ... 20:59.2
2015 CACC RUNNER OF THE YEAR
Megan Ferrick (Wilmington)
2015 CACC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Juliana Coculo (Philadelphia)
2015 BSN SPORTS CACC COACH OF THE YEAR
Dave Thomas (Philadelphia)
2015 CACC CHAMPIONSHIP TOP XV AWARD
Sara-Caitrin Mandelburg (Nyack)
2015 ANNE JACKSON MEMORIAL TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Caldwell University
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 14 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Concordia (N.Y.) College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician College, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Nyack College, Philadelphia University, Post University of Waterbury, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.