IMMACULATA, Pa. – Immaculata's men's and women's cross country teams are set for Saturday's Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Championship meet at ChesLen Preserve in Coatesville, Pa. The men will get under way at 11 a.m. with an 8k, and the women follow at noon in a 5k.
Both squads lost key runners a year ago as
Angel Chimal Rodriguez departed for the men and Diana Cusick departed for the women. However, each team has returned talented runners while adding key newcomers for the 2016 season, which has shown in the Mighty Macs' preparations during the last two months for the conference championship. Immaculata has competed in six different races along the way to see how they will stack up against the CSAC competition, with the women's team capturing one team title.
On the men's side,
Michael Wamsher and Nick Richardson are Immaculata's two returning runners, and the Mighty Macs added three newcomers this year, freshman
Chase Bernier and upperclassmen
Brendan Boothman and
Dan Ericsson. Last year, Immaculata's men's team placed fourth overall at the CSAC Championship. Richardson placed 25th with a time of 33:28.9, and Wamsher was 31st in a time of 34:58.6.
Wamsher, who has been the Mighty Macs' top finisher at every meet this season, has had two finishes inside the Top 25. Wamsher, who started the season with his best finish in 18th at the Cairn Invitational, had a strong showing at the Immaculata Invitational last week in 23rd place. Richardson had his best finish of the season also at the Cairn Invitational in 25th place, and came in 27th at the Mighty Macs' home meet. The Mighty Macs competed as ChesLen earlier this season at the CSAC Preview meet where they finished in ninth overall behind the 35th place finish of Wamsher.
The Mighty Macs' women's squad was runner-up at the conference championship meet in 2015, tying the program's best finish. Immaculata returns as strong core from last year's team. Mackenzie Greene, who was 19th, is the top returner from last year. Emily Cardie and Jacki D'Amico finished 24th and 25th, respectively, at the championship. Paula Barrett (28th), Caitlin MacGregor (29th) and Mary Ellen Grap (34th) also return to lead veteran group in 2016.
The Mighty Mac women had their best finish of the season as a team coming last week prior to championships as they won the Immaculata Invitational. D'Amico paced the Mighty Macs in this race when she crossed the finish line in fourth place. The Mighty Macs would ultimately place six runners in the top 15 in the event with D'Amico followed by Cardie, who finished seventh, and Celsey Golato rounded out the top 10 in ninth position. Barrett placed 11th, and Greene finished in 12th. MacGregor rounded out the top 15 with a 14th-place finish.
Immaculata has been competitive against CSAC competition all season with league challengers appearing in all six races this season. The Mighty Macs' toughest competition for the CSAC crown will come from Cairn, Centenary and Marywood, who are the only teams to place ahead of Immaculata at a race this season. However, if the Mighty Macs have good performances and run like they have in previous meets, Immaculata has a real chance at bringing home a CSAC championship.
A piece of the Mighty Macs' success this year has been D'Amico, who has paced Immaculata in all four races she has run. D'Amico has placed in the top 25 all four events this season, including in the Top 5 at the Cairn Invitational and Immaculata Invitational. D'Amico along with returners Greene, Cardie, Grap, Barrett, MacGregor and newcomers Golato, Hannah Baggott and Karalyn Sitch are a strong group capable for leading the Mighty to the top of the championship field.
The women also ran at ChesLen earlier this season for the CSAC Preview, grabbing a fourth-place finish as a team led by Sitch's 21st-place finish. Golato took 23rd place to round out top 25 finishers for the Mighty Macs.
Following the conference championship, Immaculata will take a week off before competing in the NCAA Mideast Regional, which is being hosted by DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa.
