2019 Liberty League Women's Cross Country Awards
RUNNER OF THE YEAR: Parley Hannan, Ithaca College, Senior, Orlean, Va.
Ithaca College senior Parley Hannan was a unanimous choice as the 2019 Liberty League Runner of the Year. Hannan capped an incredible season by capturing the NCAA Division III individual National Championship on Nov. 23 at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky. Hannan recorded a winning time of a time of 20:53.8, good for an 18-second victory ahead of Genny Corcoran of Geneseo (21:11.8). She bested the field of 277 runners with an average mile split of 5:36.3; Hannan also won the Atlantic Region Championship (21:01.2) and Liberty League Championship (21:19.9) in a meet-record time. During the regular season, she also recorded first-place finishes at Hamilton Short Course Invitational (4K, 14:41.9), Ronald C. Hoffmann Invitational (22:08.9) and Connecticut College Invitational (20:52.2). She won the final five races in which she competed.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Katie Cobos, RIT, FY, Canandaigua, N.Y.
RIT first-year runner Katie Cobos was chosen as the Liberty League Rookie of the Year – the first RIT runner to receive the award. Cobos, a five-time Liberty League Rookie of the Week selection, was the highest-finishing first-year runner at the Liberty League championship, placing sixth in 23:04.7. She was also the only freshman to earn first- or second-team All-Liberty League honors by placing in the top 14 at the league championship. At the NCAA Division III National Championship meet, Cobos finished 197th with a time of 23:30.0, placing 28th among all first-year runners and first among Liberty League freshmen. At the NCAA Atlantic Regional, she was 19th of 274 (23:09.2) and was the second first-year runner to cross the finish line.
COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR: Ithaca College – Erin Dinan, Head Coach
The Ithaca College coaching staff, led by head coach Erin Dinan, assistant coach Kristin Lynn and volunteer assistant coaches Denise Ibarra and Matthew Herbert, was selected as the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year. After finishing fifth at the Liberty League Championship in 2018, Dinan and her staff guided the Bombers to a second-place finish in 2019 with one All-Liberty League first-team honoree and three second-team honorees. Ithaca also placed third at the NCAA Atlantic Regional, earning an at-large berth to the Division III National Championship in Louisville, Ky. Most notably, Dinan coached Parley Hannan to an individual national championship, a race in which she won by 18 seconds. Hannan’s development over the past year was dramatic. After finishing 31st at the Liberty League championship a year ago with a time of 23:26.6, she improved her time by more than two minutes, winning the league title in 21:19.9 and prevailing by a record margin of one minute, 21.1 seconds.
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE FIRST TEAM
1. Parley Hannan, Sr., Ithaca – 21:19.9
2. Keara Ginell, So., Vassar – 22:41.0
3. Hannah Weppner, Sr., RIT – 22:48.2
4. Maggie Bond, Sr., RPI – 22:50.9
5. Autumn Grim, Sr., RPI – 22:54.8
6. Katie Cobos, Fr., RIT – 23:04.7
7. Andrea Squeri, Sr., RPI – 23:08.4
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE SECOND TEAM
8. Ashley Walker, So., St. Lawrence – 23:18.2
9. Isabel Caplazi, Jr., RPI – 23:22.6
10. Hannah Martin, Jr., Vassar – 23:22.9
11. Annika Morrison, Sr., Ithaca – 23:28.7
12. Catherine Kluchinski, Jr., St. Lawrence – 23:32.1
13. Sarah Rudge, Sr., Ithaca – 23:36.4
14. Maggie Nickerson, Jr., Ithaca – 23:39.9
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE HONORABLE MENTION:
15. Sophie Brzezinski, Fr., St. Lawrence – 23:40.4
16. Marian Draper, So., RIT – 23:45.8
17. Olivia Spencer, So., RIT – 23:49.9
18. Laura Klang, Jr., RPI – 23:52.4
19. Anna Hennessy, So., Vassar – 23:56.8
20. Lily Digman, Fr., Vassar – 23:59.4
21. Elsa Erling, Jr., Vassar – 24:01.0
* All-Liberty League based on place finish at Liberty League Championship