Waterford, CT — The State University of New York at New Paltz cross country programs will await to see if it will send runners to the National Championships in Louisville, KY next week after placing 14th and 17th, respectively, in the men's and women's Mideast Regional races.

With a 33rd place finish, senior Jake Meyers has an opportunity to earn an at-large bid to represent SUNY New Paltz in the national championship if he is selected as the seventh and final individual bid for the northeast race.

"We believe it is likely this will happen but cannot know for sure," Hawks coach Aislinn Ryan said.

The program will learn its National Championship fate Sunday at noon when the men's and women's cross country championship selections are released on NCAA.com.

Williams College secured its spots in both championships with a 54 point winning performance in the men's 8K, then won a tight battle for the top spot in the women's 6K with 90 points. The men's Hawks score of 397 was good for 14th place among 26 programs, equaling the highest team finish ever in any regional race in program history set in 2019. Its score was slightly ahead of SUNYAC rival Plattsburgh State and well in front of the remaining 11 teams. The women's side placed 17th out of 24 teams with 482 points.

"We never had a chance this year to make an at-large bid for either team," Ryan said. "It is important to be realistic and that is something I did not see as possible. We are in a very competitive region and our team is in a build up year. However, the men's team should be especially proud for placing equal to their best place in any region we have competed in the history of the program." 

On the women's side, Clara Flores-Reininger paced the Hawks with a 44th place result, finishing with a time of 23 minutes, 43.8 seconds, while Kate Cochran (23:56.8) came behind her 13 seconds later in 51st place. Freshman Marcella Candlin (25:11.6) came within three seconds of her personal best, also set at the Harkness Park course, to place 98th. Freshmen Allison English (26:43.3) and Emily Gonzalez (27:57.7) set new career-best times, with English finishing 49.1 seconds better than her Mike Woods Invitational time on Oct. 2, and placed 143rd and 160th, respectively, to finish the scoring five for the Hawks.

"Marcy, Ally, Emily and Jazymne all had great races for themselves," Ryan said of their young team's performance. "It was extremely windy on the course and all four of them ran great individual races."

Sophomore Ginny Clifford (28:05.3) and freshmen Jazmyne Daily-Simpson (28:52.9) concluded their seasons with solid performances, finishing in 162nd and 164th place, respectively.

"Ginny fought a cough the last three weeks and did a respectable effort with her circumstances," Ryan said. "A break to recover and get well is much needed and deserved by Ginny."

On the men's side, senior Jake Meyers rebounded from a tough SUNYAC Championships performance, placing 33rd overall with a time of 26:06. Five teams from the mideast region would have to earn at-large bids for him to earn an individual bid in the national championships, but his goal for the season is closer to becoming a reality.

"​​Not only did Jake take the lead of the team this year with Matt Whitworth and Jack Wilson graduating, he was voted our team captain, improved his times by over a minute, [and] was working and taking graduate level courses, as well as continuing to push through a pandemic," Ryan said of Meyers' season.

"Jake should only be proud of his season this year. Qualifying for nationals would be the cherry on top."

Senior Trey Hotaling crossed next for SUNY New Paltz at 60th overall with a time of 27:19.6 and graduate student Colin Battersby (27:26.3) concluded his collegiate career with a 65th place finish. Freshman Vincent Mandraccia (29:25.7) crossed the finish line in 118th place, while senior Chris D'Antonio (29:36.5) set his best time of the season and placed 121st to complete the scoring five for the Hawks. Freshman Luke Hoyt (30:16.5) and sophomore Jimmy Curley (30:34.2) placed 133rd and 135th, respectively, to close the book on their first seasons.

"Trey and Colin coming in 60th and 65th is impressive in this field," Ryan said. "Our whole top five ran really smart races. Jake, Trey and Colin picked off over 15 runners in the last [3000 meters]. Vincent and Chris worked together for most of the race to close out our top five. For both of their first seasons, Luke and Jimmy both finished strong."

Every regional championship winner in the 10 regions, 22 at-large teams, and seven individuals per region on non-qualifying teams will race in the National Championship on Nov. 20 at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park. SUNY New Paltz will wait and see if it will have a representative for the fourth straight season.

To view the full results from the 2021 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships, click here.

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