LOGAN TOWNSHIP, N.J. --- The Moravian University women's cross country squad traveled to New Jersey for the NCAA Division III Metro Regional Championship hosted by Rowan University at the Gloucester County DREAM Park on Saturday afternoon with the Greyhounds earning fifth place of 24 team with 175 points.

How It Happened

• Senior Natalie Stabilito was the first Greyhound to complete the 6,000-meter course, finishing in a time of 22:24.1 for a new personal best. Stabilito finished fourth overall of the 169 runners to earn a spot in the 2021 NCAA National Championship Meet as well as being named an NCAA Division III All-Metro Region performer
• Freshman Amber Poniktera also earned All-Metro Region honors with her 21st place finish, completing the course in a personal best 23:35.3
• Sophomore Pia Mazzella DiBosco finished one spot away from regional honors with her performance of  23:56.9 for a 36th place finish while junior Rachel Byrne turned in a PR time of 24:09.7 for a 42nd place finish
• Senior Emma Marion completed the course in a time of 25:03.0 for 73rd place as Lily Mingora crossed the finish line in 26:14.7 to place 102nd
• Freshman Rachael Goodman finished the race in 26:28.5 to complete the Greyhounds lineup in the meet

Quotable from Head Coach Jesse Baumann

• "The women did a great job of moving through the race. Stabby was remarkably patient and held back even at times when you knew she was eager to surge, but we didn't want to take huge risks to jeopardize NCAAs for her. It wound up playing out exactly as we hoped, and she was able to stay patient within a group up until the final 400m when she surged to 4th place and secured a spot for NCAAs."
• "Amber Poniktera did a remarkable job of moving from mid 30s to 21st the last two miles, she's going to be an exceptional runner moving forward. Pia got out a little aggressively but held on well to narrowly miss All-Region accolades, and then the rest of our pack did an incredible job of moving up the past two miles."
• "This year has been tough, I feel awful for people like Emma Marion who were poised for a breakout senior year, but she could not possibly have been hit with worse luck getting sick for a long period of time midseason, and then literally not running for two weeks leading up to today due to a calf injury." 
• "This team squeezed every ounce they could have out of this season, and I couldn't be prouder of them for finishing 5th after all the setbacks we've had. 

Up Next for the Greyhounds

• Saturday, November 20 – 2021 NCAA Division III National Championship at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, Louisville, Ky.