Women's Cross Country | 11/3/2018 8:20:00 PM

COMPLETE RESULTS

EDINBORO—Senior Morgan Ilgenfritz (Loysville, Pa./Boiling Springs) finished fifth overall to lead the Bloomsburg University women's cross country team at the 2018 PSAC Championships at Edinboro University. As a team the Huskies 15^th overall with 364 points.
 
On a raw, wet, windy day and running on a saturated course after several days of rain in the area, Ilgenfritz went out hard at the start and was with the lead group of runners as it went through the first 800 meters. After the runners ascended a hill and out of sight from the crowd, Cal's Alicia Belko made a move and broke away from the pack.
 
Ilgenfritz hung tough in sixth place at the two-mile mark as the runners prepared to climb the hill and out of sight again. In the final 400 meters Ilgenfritz closed hard on the tough, muddy, finish straightaway taking fifth place overall and earning first team All-Conference honors. Two years ago as a junior Ilgenfritz was 23rd, while as a sophomore she was 75th.
 
Also, battling the tough running conditions were Samantha Strype (Copiague, N.Y./Massapequa) who was 77^th in 27:01, while freshman Autumn Avery (Hughesville, Pa./Hughesville) was 93^rd in 27:21 with Madison Mimnaugh (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Pittston Area) was 96^th in 27:30. Kathryn Blair (Elma, N.Y./Iroquois) finished 123rd in 28:10; while Riley Synder was 125^th in 28:13 with Jessica Brenfleck (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn)  138^th in 28:33. Also, April Panas (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) was 151^st in 29:09 with Alexa Tomassacci (Shickshinny, Pa./Northwest Area) finishing with a time of 32:48.
 
Head coach Bernie Empie was excited for his red-shirt senior.
 
"Morgan had an awesome day finishing in fifth overall," said a cold and wet Empie after the race. "She put herself in the front pack early and was able to endure all the mud, wet, and slop the course had to offer. Morgan has worked extremely hard since red-shirting last season to get back into top form. Unfortunately, the rest of our pack lost some contact early in the race and was not able to move through the field. On a day like today, if you loss contact early it's hard to catch back up because the footing is so unsure. We are very young and inexperienced, it's a good learning experience for them and we'll be better for it long-term.
 
Belko took individual top honors at the race running away from the field and finishing in 23:20, 33 seconds ahead of her teammate Alyson Pearce. Shippensburg totaled 71 points and edged Edinboro by four points to win the team title.
 
Bloomsburg heads back to post-season competition on Nov. 17 in Pittsburgh at the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship meet.