by Larry Eder
Abbey D’Agostino possesses all of the skills needed to be a fine championship runner: patience, perservance and great timing.
In 2001, Abbey was third in the NCAA Cross Country Championships. in 2012, Abbey D’Agostino was second in the NCAA Cross Country Championships. And how did Abbey do this year, as the Dartmouth senior ran her last collegiate cross country race?
Shadowing a fast Katie Avery, and dealing with the mud and cold on the Terra Haute cross country course, Abbey was five seconds down at the 2k mark. which Katie Avery hit in 6:11, and D’Agostino hit in 6:16.
By 4k, the lead was down to two seconds, 13:07 to 13:10, as Abbey D’Agostino used her strength and experience to catch Katie Avery, and begin to pull away from Avery and Emma Bates.
Abbey D’Agostino went on to win her first NCAA Cross Country title in 20:00.03 over the tough six kilometer course. Emma Bates was second and Katie Avery, who took the race out was third. Fourth was Stanford’s Aisling Cuffee.
Abbey D’Agostino was also the first Ivy League winner ever, in an NCAA Cross Country Championship!
On the team side, Emily Sisson lead the Providence College team to their first championships since 1995, with her seventh placing. This is Coach Ray Treacy’s second NCAA cross country championships and hats off to Coach Treacy, one of the most respected coaches, by his peers and by athletes.
Great battles, in wind, mud and gunk made this day a real cross country race. More details to come. And we had to finish with this fine picture of Abbey D’Agostino on winning an NCAA championships last June!
Abbey D’Agostino, photo by Pretty Sporty/Cheryl Treworgy
