University of Delaware Athletics
Saturday, October 9
Newark, Del.
9:30 a.m.
University of Delaware
vs
Delaware Invitational
Cross Country Takes Top Spot at Delaware Invitational
10/9/2021 12:23:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
Results (PDF)
NEWARK, Del. – HOME SWEET HOME! The University of Delaware cross country team hosted their annual invitational after a year-long hiatus Saturday morning. For the second time this season, the squad put together a powerhouse performance by sweeping the top-five scorers' and all 14 runners captured the top-20 slots from the White Clay Creek State Park 6k-course in Newark. The Blue Hens secured the top spot out of six teams behind graduate student Susanna Weir and senior Tina Capparell side-by-side finishes.
In the field of 59 runners, the Blue & Gold hoist up the team title with a score of 15, while Delaware TC (57), Goldey-Beacom College (96), Georgian Court University (103), Neumann University (131) and Camden County College (142) followed in respective order.
Making her season debut in dominant fashion was Weir, who finished the course in a time of 23:15.8 to earn the individual title. With 1/10th of second behind Weir was Capparell, who followed in second place at a time of 23:15.9. Julien Webster was the next Blue Hen to cross the finish line in third with a time of 23:45.3. Devon Hoernlein (24:13.4) and Danielle Eshelman (24:17.6) rounded out Delaware's top-five scorers with fifth and sixth place finishes.
"It was my first race out here today and it was really fun to open up here at our home course," said Weir. "We have been practicing here all week. Tina and I ran side-by-side up front the whole time and working together made it really enjoyable and fun day. We are looking forward to doing the same thing when we go to Florida next week."
Capparell chimed in "Today was a lot of fun running with Susanna and the whole team on our home course. Having the performance that we did was just awesome!"
Delaware also saw top-10 finishes by Anna Cleary (24:18.7, seventh), Samantha Side (24:18.9, eighth), Katie Hally (24:19.6, ninth) and Kate Rathman (24:31.9, 10th). The Blue Hens with top-20 performances were Marissa Dailey (24:52.4, 11th), Alicia Lenoir (25:33.5, 13th), Jessica Stratton (25:51.1, 15th), Sarah Kimak (26:10.1, 18th) and Deja Rodriquez-Santiago (26:31.0, 20th).
Waite added, "The team did a really good job of executing and our plan was to try to keep things really even throughout the race. It's always fun to get a perfect score no matter the meet and seeing at 15 on the score sheet is as good as it gets."
The Blue Hens returns to action next Friday, Oct. 15, at the Pre-Nationals hosted by Florida State University from Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla. at 9:45 a.m.
BLUE HENS on SOCIAL MEDIA
For the latest on University of Delaware Cross Country/Track and Field, follow the Blue Hens via social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. #BlueHens
Gallery: (10-9-2021) Cross Country at Delaware Invitational
NEWARK, Del. – HOME SWEET HOME! The University of Delaware cross country team hosted their annual invitational after a year-long hiatus Saturday morning. For the second time this season, the squad put together a powerhouse performance by sweeping the top-five scorers' and all 14 runners captured the top-20 slots from the White Clay Creek State Park 6k-course in Newark. The Blue Hens secured the top spot out of six teams behind graduate student Susanna Weir and senior Tina Capparell side-by-side finishes.
In the field of 59 runners, the Blue & Gold hoist up the team title with a score of 15, while Delaware TC (57), Goldey-Beacom College (96), Georgian Court University (103), Neumann University (131) and Camden County College (142) followed in respective order.
"It was a really fun day. We wanted to be intentional about how we went about the race today," said head coach Ryan Waite. "We feel like this course has a lot of similarities to the conference championship course (Franklin Park in Boston, Mass.). We wanted to use this as a tune up before Pre-Nationals next week. I'm really proud of Tina and Susanna especially, they had a lot of fun together running up front. Hopefully they can duplicate that in the races to come."HOME SWEET HOME! For the second time this season, the #BlueHens swept the top-five scorers' slots for 15 points and the team title. Additionally, all 14 runners earned top-20 spots #WeLoveToSeeIt 🏃♀️💨😤 pic.twitter.com/luoyLsHKH9
— Delaware Track & Field/Cross Country (@DelawareTFXC) October 9, 2021
Making her season debut in dominant fashion was Weir, who finished the course in a time of 23:15.8 to earn the individual title. With 1/10th of second behind Weir was Capparell, who followed in second place at a time of 23:15.9. Julien Webster was the next Blue Hen to cross the finish line in third with a time of 23:45.3. Devon Hoernlein (24:13.4) and Danielle Eshelman (24:17.6) rounded out Delaware's top-five scorers with fifth and sixth place finishes.
"It was my first race out here today and it was really fun to open up here at our home course," said Weir. "We have been practicing here all week. Tina and I ran side-by-side up front the whole time and working together made it really enjoyable and fun day. We are looking forward to doing the same thing when we go to Florida next week."
Capparell chimed in "Today was a lot of fun running with Susanna and the whole team on our home course. Having the performance that we did was just awesome!"
Delaware also saw top-10 finishes by Anna Cleary (24:18.7, seventh), Samantha Side (24:18.9, eighth), Katie Hally (24:19.6, ninth) and Kate Rathman (24:31.9, 10th). The Blue Hens with top-20 performances were Marissa Dailey (24:52.4, 11th), Alicia Lenoir (25:33.5, 13th), Jessica Stratton (25:51.1, 15th), Sarah Kimak (26:10.1, 18th) and Deja Rodriquez-Santiago (26:31.0, 20th).
Waite added, "The team did a really good job of executing and our plan was to try to keep things really even throughout the race. It's always fun to get a perfect score no matter the meet and seeing at 15 on the score sheet is as good as it gets."
Running side-by-side were @Susannaweir7 and @tina_capparell - Here are their thoughts on today's race #WeLoveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/6nOz1ZHgf5
— Delaware Track & Field/Cross Country (@DelawareTFXC) October 9, 2021
WHAT'S NEXTHead Coach @CoachWaiteUD added his perceptive on today's performance #WeLoveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/8sxgTMeDFw
— Delaware Track & Field/Cross Country (@DelawareTFXC) October 9, 2021
The Blue Hens returns to action next Friday, Oct. 15, at the Pre-Nationals hosted by Florida State University from Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla. at 9:45 a.m.
BLUE HENS on SOCIAL MEDIA
For the latest on University of Delaware Cross Country/Track and Field, follow the Blue Hens via social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. #BlueHens
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
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