ROCHESTER, NY - The 2009 women’s cross country had a strong season, defeating a nationally ranked SUNY Plattsburgh team during that time. The team had no dominant runner during the first half of the season, but senior
Jouhan Allende (Saco, ME/Thornton Academy) eventually moved into the top position. The team started off the season strong with a first place finish at the SUNY Cobleskill Invitational. They then went on and came in second at two other races; Houghton College’s Highlander Invitational and the Empire 8 Championship. At the Empire 8 Championship, three lady tigers earned All-Conference honors. The three tigers included Allende,
Abby Aker (Chelmsford, MA/Chelmsford), and
Anna Guthrie (Essex Junction, VT/Essex). Allende earned first team honors, while Aker and Guthrie garnered second team accolades. The team finished out their season at the NCAA Region Championship. Placing 14th overall.
Allende enjoyed an outstanding season as she qualified and competed at the NCAA Championship. Allende finished that race156th out of 280 contenders with a time of 24:06. Allende was also the second place finisher at the Empire 8 Championship, earning her first team honors. Allende was the top runner for three out of the six races the team competed in.
Freshman
Rachel Zoyhofski (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) was another one of the team’s top runners throughout the season. Zoyhofski led the team to victory at the 5,000-meter SUNY Cobleskill course. She came in second overall with a time of 18:42.08. She was also the top finisher at the SUNY Albany Invitational, helping lead the team to a 12th place finish.
Juniors Aker and Arielle Januzskiewicz were also top contenders for the women’s team as they were both consistently in the top five runners for each race they competed in. Guthrie was also a great contributor to the team as she ran alongside the top runners.
The women’s team does not have any graduating seniors in 2009 and will return everyone in 2010.