New Paltz, NY — Before the season, senior Jake Meyers and junior Kate Cochran expressed their desires to compete in the Cross Country National Championships in Louisville, KY. Senior Clara Flores-Reininger's performance throughout the season puts her in a good position to race at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park.

They will have their chance to compete for a spot on Saturday, when SUNY New Paltz travels to participate in its final full team race of the year: the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships.

Meyers, graduate student Colin Battersby, seniors Trey Hotaling and Chris D'Antonio, sophomore Jimmy Curley, and freshmen Luke Hoyt and Vincent Mandraccia will participate in the men's 8K. Cochran, Flores-Reininger, freshmen Marcella Candlin, Allison English, Emily Gonzalez, and Jazmyne Daily-Simpson, and sophomore Ginny Clifford will race in the women's 6K.

Graduate student Reed Williams and freshman Mikaya Cecora will also travel with the team as alternates. 

"Getting to the starting line healthy and mentally ready is a different path for everybody," said Hawks coach Aislinn Ryan on preparing their team. "They know this is going to be a fierce race where nothing is going to be handed to them. We are preparing for each runner to take what they have earned. It's important for me that the pressure of this race propels the Hawks forward to their best races of the season."

The team will look to match the historic 2019 regionals performance, when current graduate student Reed Williams and alumni Emily Cavanagh and Matt Whitworth '20 qualified for the national championships. It marked the first time in program history that more than one individual represented SUNY New Paltz at the national stage.

It's the first time SUNY New Paltz will race in the newly formed Mideast region. The NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Track & Field and Cross Country Committee approved a new 10-region realignment model, an increase from the previous eight regions, on July 8. Thirty-two teams — one automatic qualifier for each region and 22 at-large teams —  and seven individuals per region on non-qualifying teams will race in the National Championship.

"Clara, Kate and Jake are all very much in the running, but we will have to wait for at least 24 hours to hear which teams are in on the at-large bid," Ryan said. "This will greatly affect whether we qualify. It will be a nail-biter."

The championships will take place at a familiar course for the Hawks: Harkness Park in Waterford, CT. They raced on the course during the Connecticut College Invitational on Oct. 16, placing 17th and 19th out of 26 teams, respectively, and saw multiple individuals set personal best times across the four races despite a non-COVID illness affecting the team. It was the fastest course that the team ran on all season.

"I think everyone's going to run pretty fast," Daily-Simpson said. "It's a flat course and we've ran there before so… now that we know what to expect, everyone will be hyped up and we'll be able to run fast."

"It's just a chance to do even better than we all did last time," Curley added. 
 

SUNY New Paltz heads into the regionals two weeks after participating in the SUNYAC Championships where both teams placed sixth in the men's 8K and women's 6K with scores of 153 and 127, respectively. It had a great day individually, as Cochran (25:19.8) earned All-SUNYAC Second Team honors with a sixth place finish and Flores-Reininger's (25:10.6) fifth-place result merited First Team honors and induction into the SUNYAC Cross Country Hall of Fame. Additionally, Williams received the Elite 20 award for the third time in his career.

Meyers, who fought through tough competition to finish 17th in the conference championships, has been the best runner on the men's side, scoring first in all eight races. On the women's side, Cochran and Flores-Reininger — who won the New Paltz and Mount Saint Mary Invites — finished as the Hawks' top runner four times apiece.

Alongside potential nationals qualifying performances, Ryan hopes to see improved results from the remainder of their young teams despite the added pressure of a championship season. With a good team performance on Saturday, SUNY New Paltz could find themselves as an at-large qualifier.

"Some of the runners are feeling an increased pressure in the championship season but it doesn't change what they do when the gun goes off," they said. "This young team is learning a lot, making big personal strides, and they will just continue doing the best they can do on the regional level."

The NCAA Mideast Regional Championships are scheduled to begin on Saturday. The men's 8K is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start with the women's 6K slated for 12:15 p.m. 

NCAA Mideast Regional Preview

-------------------------------