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 1980’s a women's program was introduced to the RPI community [2, 4]. Around this time, Division III cross country was added in 1973, but it 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 cross country team practiced at the current location the Harkness Memorial Field and track is located, in front of the ECAV. At the time, 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, which they practiced at occasionally 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. After this, 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 1980’s 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 UCAA (Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association), but in the summer of 2004 the conference was renamed the Liberty League. The Liberty League’s founding teams were Clarkson University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, the University of Rochester, St. Lawrence University, Skidmore College, Union College, and of course Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute [2, 4, 5]. RPI still stands as a part of the Liberty League today.

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 [6].

The women’s team first appeared at the NCAA DIII 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) [6]. With the consistency in numbers that started in 2012, also came growth and eventual consistency in high performance as a team. After 2009, the women's team did not compete at the national competition again until 2015 and then four consecutive years after in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and then 2022 after the team recovered from the effects of the Pandemic [9]. The women's team won their first league title in 1997, then 18 years later in 2015 they captured the title from Saint Lawrence again [7]. Since then the team has won in 2016, 2019, and 2022.