Seahawks compete in NCAA Mideast Regional Championship

WATERFORD, Conn. – Salve Regina joined more than 30 other programs for the inaugural running of the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Cross Country Championship at Harkness State Park on Saturday. The highly competitive meet would send four teams and seven individual runners to the national championship.

The Mideast Region was established in the realignment of the former New England region in 2020 and includes teams from Connecticut, western Massachusetts, eastern New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. (The East Region, meanwhile, was formed with programs from eastern Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. That region raced at Franklin Park in Boston on Saturday.)

Williams, a perennial power in New England, posted a score of 90 to earn the automatic qualifying bid for the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship on Nov. 20. Middlebury (second, 99), Amherst (third, 102) and Smith (fourth, 134) earned at-large bids when the NCAA announced its selections on Sunday evening.

Genna Girard of Williams won the race outright, finishing the 6,000-meter course in 21:36.0. Cassie Kearney of Middlebury (21:46.1) and Mary Kate McGranahan of Amherst (21:50.5) were part of the chase pack throughout the looping course, finishing not far behind the frontrunner.

Lauren Selkin of Mount Holyoke (22:00.7), Nia Goddard of RPI (22:20.3), Amy O'Sullivan of Westfield State (22:23.6), Miranda Graves of Wesleyan (22:25.4), Julia Curran of Connecticut College (22:34.2), and Sasha Allison (22:36.2) and Augusta Stockman (22:36.8) of Vassar earned the individual bids reserved for the top seven runners who were not on a team that advanced to the national championship.

Senior Cate Norton (Sandy Hook, Conn.) was the top runner for Salve Regina in her final collegiate cross country race, holding on to finish inside the top 100. Freshman Bre Shipman (New Canaan, Conn.), senior Christina Moran (Oceanside, N.Y.), sophomore Heather McKee (Churchton, Md.) and junior Izabella Kuczorski (Simsbury, Conn.) completed the scoring for the Seahawks. Junior Jenna French (Milford, Conn.) and freshman Delaney Marek (Northampton, Mass.) ran at No. 6 and No. 7 for Salve Regina.

The regional meet marked the fastest race of the season for Moran, Kuczorski and French.

Salve Regina performances included:
92. Cate Norton – 24:56.3
116. Bre Shipman – 25:39.9
117. Christina Moran – 25:41.3
124. Heather McKee – 25:57.4
137. Izabella Kuczorski – 26:30.7
149. Jenna French – 26:57.3
155. Delaney Marek – 27:31.8

This marks the conclusion of the 2021 cross country season for Salve Regina.