Janke leads TU at NCAA Regionals

By: Muhammed Waheed, Asst. Sports Editor

File photo by Brendan Felch/ The Towerlight

Towson placed 19th at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional on Friday morning at Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

This was the team’s best finish since 2016 where the Tigers took 18th place.

“The first goal for conference was to be in the top five and we were that,” said head coach Mike Jackson. “So excited about the progress and the young team and excited for coming back next year.” 

Sophomore Olivia Janke was the first Towson runner to finish the race. She placed 20th with a time of 20:45.3. Her time was the highest in recent program history.

“It’s hard to run well at the highest level with other great competitors and she did that,” Jackson said. “I think the most important thing for her is that she realizes how good she is, how great she can be and I think she’s only going to get better.” 

Freshman Kylie Anicic finished 76th overall with a time of 21:50.5.

“Around this time last year she was playing soccer at another university and so in her first cross country season with us she’s definitely shown that she belongs and has some potential leadership qualities,” Jackson said.

Janke and Anicic finished in first and second place for Towson in each meet this season.

“It’s hard to be consistent,” Jackson said. “In cross country there’s so many different factors and so many people to run and compete against. And, so, for them to stay in that spot is impressive and looking forward to them competing like that next year with the rest of our next recruits that are coming in.”

Sophomore McKenzie Delahanty finished the meet timing 22:26.5 while freshman Alison Betler timed 23:01.

“McKenzie Delahanty has had an outstanding year,” Jackson said. “If you look at her performances totally from last year compared to this year there is no comparison.”

Freshman Nicole Bezborodko timed 23:18.6 which was nearly a one minute improvement from last year. 

Sophomore Elizabeth Vaughn finished with a time of 23:21.6 while freshman Faith Loftus timed 24:11.5.

The Tigers had two runners in the top 100 for the second consecutive season.

Towson’s cross country season came to an end, however, the team’s attention moves to the indoor track season. The indoor track team’s first meet is at the Bucknell Bison Open on Saturday, Dec. 7.

Leave a Reply

Close

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.