Lemont Furnace, PA - The Johnson & Wales Charlotte women's cross country team closed the 2023 season by finishing runner-up at the USCAA National Championships, the highest finish in program history.
The race was contested across a 6k course on the campus of Penn State-Fayette. Senior
Yenilitza Roman capped her collegiate career with a runner up finish. She stood fourth halfway through the race, but passed two runners to finish with a time of 24:55.30. Her finish earned her USCAA 1st Team All-American honors for the second time.
Kacie Delaughter,
Cassie Bayes, and
Isabella Gonzalez played a huge role in the Wildcats' finish. As a group, they improved their standings by 5 scoring places in the fourth 1000 meters to move JWU from 4th to 2nd, and then held their positions from that point. Delaughter finished 20th overall in 27:37.70, while Bayes came home 32nd in a time of 29:34.30, and Gonzalez finished 35th in 30:27.20.
Georgia Poirier was the final scoring runner for the Wildcats. She had a steady race, finishing 42nd in 32:10.00.
Muchima Manengu (37:12.40/50th) and
Nataly McCrary (41:32.50/52nd) were the final two runners for JWU.
The team score of 88 points was four better than third place Christendom, trailing only three time national champion SUNY-ESF. Delaughter,
Quinn Stutsman, and
Erin Weidner were all named to the USCAA All-Academic team during the post race awards ceremony.Â
FINAL RESULTS
