Ferrara and Foglietta’s Top-10 Performances Lead Women’s Cross Country to Best NE10 Finish in 19 Years

Links: Results

HOPKINTON, N.H. – On the strength of two all-conference efforts by junior Katherine Ferrara and senior Tia Foglietta – with the former earning the program's first all-conference first team selection in 12 years – the Merrimack College women's cross country team finished as the runner-up at the 2018 Northeast-10 Conference Championships held on Sunday at Hopkinton State Fairgrounds. The team finish was the best for the Warriors since 1999.

Ferrara also was the recipient of the NE10 Elite 24 Award, a new conference accolade presented to the student-athlete with the highest grade point average (GPA) at the league championship event. She brought a 4.00 cumulative GPA into the fall semester to earn the prestigious award.

The Basics
Results: 2^nd/15
Top Finisher: Katherine Ferrara (6^th – 22:13.7)
Location: Hopkinton State Fairgrounds / Hopkinton, N.H.

What They Said:
Head Coach Chris Cameron: "I was really pleased with the girls' effort once again, especially considering how big of a race this was. We need to still work on shrinking the gap between our No. 1 and No. 5 runners, and if we do that I think we're gonna have a great chance for success at the regional meet in two weeks."

How It Happened:

• With the team running on a 6K course for the first time this season, Merrimack proved itself well worthy of the pre-championship predictions that were unveiled on Friday, placing second in the 15-team field thanks to two top-10 finishes and four top-25 runners.
• Ferrara led all Warrior women for the fourth race this year and solidified her second straight all-conference accolade thanks to her sixth-place performance. She averaged just under six minutes per mile and finished in 22:13.7. She represented the best Merrimack individual finisher at a conference championship meet since 2012 and was the program's first all-conference first team selection since Linsey Cohen did so in 2006.
• Foglietta was right behind her in eighth place overall, averaging 5:58.2 per mile en route to her final time of 22:15.6.
• Senior captain Sophie Gorton and sophomore Julia Dempsey – the latter of whom was an all-conference honoree a year ago – were the next two Warriors to finish in succession at 23^rd and 24^th on the leader board. Gorton crossed in 23:04.7, with Dempsey following less than two seconds later (23:06.3).
• Senior Jackie Coscia was fifth for the Warriors and crossed in 41^st place; her time of 23:46.1 contributed to the Warriors' team score and, thus, was a factor in the program's best finish at the conference championship meet in nearly two decades.
• Freshman Sarah Tierney, senior captain Morgan DeBolt and sophomore Kate Fisher rounded out the top-eight for the Warriors in 49^th, 63^rd and 68^th place, respectively.
• Merrimack earned the league's runner-up title for the first time in the 35-year history of the conference championship. The team's only better finishes occurred during their three straight team titles in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

Up Next
Merrimack will return to action at the NCAA East Regional Championship on Saturday, Nov. 17, with a spot in the national championship meet on the line. The race will be held at Bethpage State Park in New York.