Rowan women’s cross country team competed in the NCAA Division III Metro Championship last Saturday, Nov. 12. The team finished ninth out of 24 other teams competing at the event and were led by sophomore Anna Sasse who finished in 24th place and Gabriella Pagano who finished in 31st. They were both named All-Region for their performances.
Head Coach Derick “Ringo” Adamson was happy with his team’s performance on Saturday. He feels the team overcame some adversity when it came to the weather.
“The elements [on] Saturday were not the best,” Ringo said. “It was a mud fest with the rain. Considering the conditions that were in, we did well. And I tell them this after every race regardless of the performance, we learned a lesson. We always have room to improve and grow and we will. Now we will use this race to prepare for next year.”
Coming into the event, the Profs were again without Team Captain Cammy Wright and standout freshman Abbey Churchill. Ringo was initially nervous about how the team would perform without those two. But the team has had people step up in their place.
“When it first happened and they got injured it was huge,” Ringo said. “With Churchill, she still could have run, but I did not want to take that chance. I just wanted her to heal and recover. Cammy [Wright] went down last meet with her foot issue. That is your second and fourth-best runners out for a race. The rest of the team could have laid down and died. But they did not, they overcame and rose up.”
Two of the people Ringo feels have stepped up without those two are freshmen Mia Vaughn and junior Mia Guerra finished 53rd and 63rd, respectively.
“Two people who have had great seasons and stepped up are the two ‘Mias’,” Ringo said. “Vaughn and Guerra, if you just watch them, you see them improve. They both have good character.”
Although unable to compete, Wright still cheered on her teammates at the race and, even though she would have rather run to help her team, she was still excited to watch them compete.
“They had a really tough course,” Wright said. “They gave it their all. I was really proud of them. I have seen them compete all season long. It was really cool to see them run at regionals because they have been working hard on it all season long.”
With this being their last race of the cross country season, Wright was reflective about the season as a whole.
“Through the years I have been here, this is the hardest I have seen the teamwork,” Wright said. “This was such an excellent season. Everyone made huge progress. I couldn’t be any happier for everyone”.
With the season coming to an end, Ringo and most of the team are looking forward to starting the transition toward the indoor track and field season.
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