RPI Women's Cross Country

Introduction

Over the years the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been home to up to 23 NCAA teams. Out of these 23 current teams, 21 are Division III and a part of the Liberty League and 2 are Division I and members of the ECAC. The 23 teams are split into 12 men’s teams and 11 women’s teams, one of which is the Women’s Cross Country program.

History

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute cross country program was founded in 1917 as a men's only team. In the early 1980s, a women's program was introduced to the RPI community [2, 4]. Around this time, Division III cross country was added in 1973, but was only a men's conference. Eight years later in 1981, women’s cross country was added as a team sport to the NCAA Division III [1]. The establishment of RPI's Women's Cross Country team in 1986 came at a time when women's sports were gaining more visibility and opportunities in athletics. The passage of Title IX in 1972, mandated equal opportunities for men and women in educational programs, including athletics. Title IX played a crucial role in nationally expanding women’s sports teams and supported a broader movement toward gender equality in sports, which was still in its early stages during the 1980s. [5]

The cross country team currently practices on the Harkness Memorial Field and Track, in front of the East Campus Athletic Village (ECAV) in Troy, NY. In the 1980s, this was an all dirt track with only the football stadium behind it. There was also a dirt track that went around the ‘86 Field, located in the center of the RPI campus, where the team practiced as well. RPI’s home cross country course started at the dirt track by the football stadium, crossed Hoosick Street and continued to Frear Park, and back. Later, the course was moved to Saratoga State Park where they hosted the Regional Championship for several years [2, 4].

Women's Cross Country 1986-2004

The RPI Women’s Cross Country program started as a club team in the early 1980s and moved from club to varsity status in 1986 when the team joined the NCAA Division III program [2]. From 1986-1995 the team competed in the NYS (New York State) league composed of teams across the state of New York who were in the Division III Conference. In 1995 the team joined the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA), which was renamed in the summer of 2004 to the Liberty League. The Liberty League’s founding teams along with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute were Clarkson University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, the University of Rochester, St. Lawrence University, Skidmore College, and Union College [2, 4, 6]. RPI still stands as a part of the Liberty League today.

One of the key milestones in the program’s history came in 1995, when Cathy Moran'96 became the first cross country All-American in school history, finishing 6th at the NCAA Championship with a time of 17:55.4 in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Racing in the Liberty League 2004-Present

In 2005 the team was composed of 9 women, none of which were seniors, and by 2007 the team had grown to 20 women. From 2008-2011 the team consisted of 8-16 runners. By the following year, after John Lynch took over as head coach, the women’s team began to grow again to 16 women and since then has consistently contained between 19-24 women [7].

The women’s team first appeared at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship in 2009 which took place in Baldwin-Wallace, Ohio where they placed 28/32 teams and scored a total of 573 points [3]. This team of 10 women, coached by Colin Tory and assisted by Jen Adams, was composed of Molly Brunelle (Freshman), Danielle Cohen (Junior), Marie Ferro (Freshman), Meghan Hatton (Senior), Ariel Hubert (Senior), Christine Koch (Junior), Erin Kyle (Senior), Ariel Mingrone (Sophomore), Nicole Nolan (Junior), and Grace Tilton (Freshman) [7]. With a more consistent roster size beginning in 2012, there also came a more consistent high level of performance as a team. After competing at nationals in 2009, the women's team did not return to the national competition again until 2015, followed by four consecutive appearances in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and then again in 2022 after the team recovered from the effects of the Pandemic [10]. The women's team claimed their first league title in 1997, and 18 years later in 2015, they recaptured the title from Saint Lawrence [8, 11]. Since then the team has won in 2016, 2019, and 2022 [11].

2015 Liberty League Championship Team

Jaime Lord '18 had a standout career for the Engineers, becoming the first two-time All-American in RPI cross-country history. In 2015, she placed 15th at the NCAA Championship under Coach John Lynch in Winneconne, Wisconsin, completing the 6K race in 21:37.3. The following year, she improved her time, and placed 19th in Louisville, Kentucky. Her time set a new school record at 21:05.9. The program reached another significant milestone in 2022 when it produced two All-Americans in the same season for the first time in its history. Nia Goddard '23 finished 35th with a time of 22:41.8 at the NCAA Championship in Lansing, Michigan, while her teammate Morgan Lee '23 placed 7th, finishing in 22:09.4.

References

[1] https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2023/8/4/division-iIi-timeline.aspx

[2] Pamphlet and paper articles from the Polytechnic newspaper

[3] https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/pomapitzer.sidearmsports.com/documents/2023/10/11/UpdatedWomenByYr.pdf

[4] Coach John Lynch, Olivia Pisacano, 1 October 2024.

[5] https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/advocacy_category/title-ix/

[6] https://libertyleagueathletics.com/sports/2011/7/7/about.aspx

[7] https://rpiathletics.com/sports/womens-cross-country/roster/2009

[8] https://libertyleagueathletics.com/news/2015/10/31/WXC_1031150020.aspx

[9] https://info.rpi.edu/student-life#:~:text=Athletics,Athlete%20Advisory%20Committee%20(SAAC)

[10] https://sagehens.com/documents/2023/11/20/Women-team-history.pdf

[11] https://libertyleagueathletics.com/sports/2013/12/18/GEN_1218130108.aspx#WXC

[12] https://rpiathletics.com/sports/2021/3/6/cross-country-track-field-all-americans.aspx