NEWS
SUNY Cobleskill Womens Cross Country Finishes Fourth at ECAC Division III Cross Country Championships
COBLESKILL - A week after capturing their eighth consecutive North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Cross Country Championships the SUNY Cobleskill women’s cross country team closed out their 2016 season in impressive fashion on Saturday afternoon by posting a team score of 117 points to place fourth overall in a field of 16 teams at the Eastern Collage Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Cross Country Championships hosted by the ECAC at the Hudson Valley Sports Dome. The Fighting Tigers fourth place finish at the meet was the best finish posted by a NEAC team at the ECAC Championships in league history.
The Fighting Tigers received the first three All-ECAC Team earning efforts in program history from: senior Taylor Tommell, Guilderland, N.Y., Guilderland High School, closed her career by placing fourth overall in the 100-runner field by covering the 6000-meter course in a time of 25:04.9, freshman Emma Bayuk, Sandy Hook, Conn., Newtown High School, who followed up last week’s 2016 NEAC Championship run with a 10th place finish in a time of 25:35.3 and by sophomore Quinn Porter, Ballston Spa, N.Y., Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School, who placed 18th overall in 26:10.1.
The Cobleskill scoring was rounded out by junior AnnaClaire Piersiak, Staten Island, N.Y., Curtis High School, who finished in 28th place with a time of 26:51.4 and by freshman Abigail O’Brien, Stockton, N.Y., Cassadaga Valley High School, who finished in 63rd overall in 28:54.7.
With the 2016 season in the books Fighting Tiger Head Coach Mitchell Tomaszkiewicz had high praise for his team while beginning to look to the future.
“This was a great season for our program with winning our eighth consecutive NEAC Championship and this effort today. I think you have to give our graduating team members Taylor Tommell, AnnaClaire Piersiak and Alyssa Riewarts (Lindenhurst, N.Y., Lindenhurst High School) a lot of credit. They committed themselves to making this happen by coming into the season in very good running shape and provided great leadership throughout the year. We are going to really miss them next season on a number of levels. Now as we enter the track season we will look to continue the process of developing our returning team members as athletes and begin to focus our recruiting efforts on bringing in a class that will help us defend our conference title next year.”
The Fighting Tigers received the first three All-ECAC Team earning efforts in program history from: senior Taylor Tommell, Guilderland, N.Y., Guilderland High School, closed her career by placing fourth overall in the 100-runner field by covering the 6000-meter course in a time of 25:04.9, freshman Emma Bayuk, Sandy Hook, Conn., Newtown High School, who followed up last week’s 2016 NEAC Championship run with a 10th place finish in a time of 25:35.3 and by sophomore Quinn Porter, Ballston Spa, N.Y., Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School, who placed 18th overall in 26:10.1.
The Cobleskill scoring was rounded out by junior AnnaClaire Piersiak, Staten Island, N.Y., Curtis High School, who finished in 28th place with a time of 26:51.4 and by freshman Abigail O’Brien, Stockton, N.Y., Cassadaga Valley High School, who finished in 63rd overall in 28:54.7.
With the 2016 season in the books Fighting Tiger Head Coach Mitchell Tomaszkiewicz had high praise for his team while beginning to look to the future.
“This was a great season for our program with winning our eighth consecutive NEAC Championship and this effort today. I think you have to give our graduating team members Taylor Tommell, AnnaClaire Piersiak and Alyssa Riewarts (Lindenhurst, N.Y., Lindenhurst High School) a lot of credit. They committed themselves to making this happen by coming into the season in very good running shape and provided great leadership throughout the year. We are going to really miss them next season on a number of levels. Now as we enter the track season we will look to continue the process of developing our returning team members as athletes and begin to focus our recruiting efforts on bringing in a class that will help us defend our conference title next year.”