PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - Five All-Conference performances led the Wilmington University cross country teams to a pair of third place finishes at the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championships on Sunday morning on Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park.
The men heard the gun first on Sunday and came away with 87 points to finish third on the 8K course. The women followed on the 5K course and scored 88 points to finish third overall as well. A pair of first-time winners highlighted the CACC Championships with Georgian Court scoring 59 points in the men's race to win and Felician scored 36 points to secure the women's championship. Felician's championship is the first women's title of any kind for the Golden Falcons.
The men were led by Trent Taylor's third place finish but highlighted by Vaughn Lackman's sixth place finish. He was the top freshman finisher in the field, earning CACC Rookie of the Year honors. Dan Wyshinski was the third Wildcat to finish in 12th place. All three of the Wildcats' top finishers earned All-CACC for claiming a Top-15 finish.
Taylor finished third overall on the 8K course with a time of 27:24.8 while Lackman was sixth with a time of 27:48.9. Wyshinski finished 12th overall with a time of 28:10.3. Logan Strouse was the fourth Wildcat to finish on Sunday, crossing the line in 28th place with a time of 30:07.0. Hayward Boutte rounded out the Wildcats' scoring with a 38th place finish, crossing the line in 31:25.7. Nicholas Licup closed out the Wildcats on the course with a 51st place finish in 34:25.2.
Caldwell's Tilak Datta earned individual medalist honors and CACC Runner of the Year accolades after winning the race with a time of 26:30.8, nearly a minute ahead of the field.
Lackman becomes the program's seventh CACC Rookie of the Year in program history, the first since Garrett Checchi in 2018.
The women were up next and the Wildcats were led by a pair of All-CACC performances from Yailynn Ramirez and Taylor Burchfield.
Following a pair of Felician finishers, Yailynn Ramirez crossed the line in third overall, running the 5K course in 20:16.0. Burchfield placed eighth overall with a time of 20:37.8.
Alexa Crowell was the third Wildcat to finish on Sunday, coming in 24th overall with a time of 22:14.1. Tiffany Banning finished 26th overall with a time of 22:27.5 and teammate Camila Cornejo was right behind her in 29th to round out the Wildcats scoring with a time of 22:39.3.
Felician's Briseidy Balderas won back-to-back individual championships with another victory on Sunday, beating her teammate Ashley Linares by 8 seconds, with a time of 20:02.4. She bested her time from last year's championships run by 12 seconds.
Both teams will now prepare for the NCAA Division II East Regional Championship on Saturday November 19. The postseason event will be hosted by Adelphi at Bethpage State Park in New York.
