NEW ORLEANS - The Dickinson women's cross country team had six members earn All-Region honors as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association this week. Those athletes are Samantha Barnes, Isabel Cardi, Maddie Garber, Lilianna Matala, Myra Naqvi, and Allyson Yanega.
Barnes, a native of Butler, Pennsylvania, has had a strong season so far with three Top-10 finishes taking eighth at the Little Three Championship (19:42), ninth in the Alumni Meet (20:27.16), and eighth at the Long-Short Invite (24:24.363). Last weekend in the Centennial Conference Championship she came in 24th with a mark of 24:13.5, while crossing the line in 31st on Saturday at the Mid-Atlantic Regional (24:41.40).
Cardi arrived in Carlisle from Media, Pennsylvania, and has been a dominating force all season long earning wins in all seven races that she has competed in this season. On October 1st she beat out a 342 runner field that consisted of runners across all three divisions with a time of 20:54.7. Then in the postseason, she won her second consecutive Centennial Conference Championship in 21:48.5, before cruising to a 42-second win this weekend in the Mid-Atlantic Regional posting a time of 22:13.00.
Garber came to Dickinson from Chantilly, Virginia, and has made her rookie season a memorable one with four Top-10 finishes. She posted two third-place results in back-to-back races the Little Three Championship and the Dickinson Alumni Meet with times of 19:11 and 19:29.39 respectively. She has also recorded a pair of Top-20 finishes in the postseason races this year taking 20 at the Centennial Conference Championship (24:00.7) and 17th at the Regional (24:05.20).
Matala has been strong in her senior year with four Top-10 finishes. The Schenectady, New York, native began the season with a pair of tenth-place results at the Galen Piper Open (15:49.6) and the Little Three Championship (19:47). She then took seventh in the 4k race at the DC Long-Short Invite (15:29.896). In the postseason she came in 27th at the Centennial Conference Championship (24:25.4) and 35th in the Regional (24:48.90).
Naqvi, a native of Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, has two Top-10 finishes taking sixth at the DC Alumni Meet (20:08.20) and ninth in the Little Three Championship (19:46). She was the Devils top finisher at the Border Battle hosted by Rowan University crossing the line in 43rd with a time of 23:49.6. In the Centennial Conference Championship, she landed inside the top third of the field finishing in 28th (24:38.5), while taking 26th at the Mid-Atlantic Regional with a mark of 24:31.00.
Yanega was the picture of consistency early in the season taking fourth at the Galen Piper Open (15:31.6), the Little Three Championship (19:17), and DC Long-Short 4k race (15:15.659). She has had a nice postseason as well crossing the line in 23rd at the Centennial Conference Championship with a mark of 24:09.4, before coming in 13th in the Mid-Atlantic Regional stopping the clock at 23:49.00.
Up Next
The Red Devils will head to Louisville, Kentucky this Saturday for the NCAA Division III Championship at Tom Sawyer State Park.