| 2024 Liberty League Cross Country Championships |
| Date & Time: November 2, 2024 - Women's Race: 11 AM | Men's Race: 12 PM |
| Location: Canton, N.Y. - Ronald C. Hoffmann Cross Country Course |
| Links: Live Results | Championship Page |
The Liberty League Cross Country Championships return to Canton, N.Y., on Saturday, November 2, for the first time since 2015. St. Lawrence University is set to host the 2024 edition of the championships.
The Saints welcome fellow league members Bard College, Clarkson University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Ithaca College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Union College, and Vassar College to northern New York this weekend.
The championships will take place at St. Lawrence's Ronald C. Hoffmann Cross Country Course. The women's 6-kilometer gets the day started at 11 AM and the men's 8-kilometer race follows at noon. An awards ceremony will conclude the day's festivities at 1 PM.
At the 2023 Women's Cross Country Championship, Vassar captured its first Liberty League title in program history with the Brewers placing four of their five scoring runners among the top ten. They finished the race with 49 points edging St. Lawrence by six, the Saints were second with 55 points. RPI and RIT rounded out the top four teams with 82 and 83 points, respectively. The Tigers were followed by Ithaca (93), Union (159), William Smith (212), Clarkson (259), and Bard (276).
It should be a close race, with two league schools highlighted in the most recent United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III national poll; RPI is ranked No. 16, and Vassar is No. 26. Regionally, RPI tops the league schools in the Mideast at No. 3; Vassar follows in sixth, and St. Lawrence is tenth. In the Niagara region, two league schools are featured, with Ithaca at No. 4 and RIT at No. 6.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW | MEN'S PREVIEW
The Brewers will make a run at their first back-to-back Liberty League titles, and if successful, they would be the first to win two consecutive titles since RPI in 2015 and 2016.
Vassar returns to the championship with all five of its scoring runners from a year ago. The squad opened the 2024 campaign with two team victories (Vassar Season Starter; Ron Stonitsch Invitational) and a second-place showing (Wesleyan Invitational). Most recently, they competed in the Connecticut College Invitational in the White Race (7th) and Blue Race (10th). Sophomore Haley Schoenegge, the 2024 Liberty League Co-Rookie of the Year, has been the team's top performer this season; she placed among the top five in all five of her 2024 races. Her best 6-kilometer time of the season (20:52.3) was at Lehigh's Paul Short, where she was third. At the Connecticut College Invitational, she finished fourth in the Blue Race with a time of 21:13.4. Schoenegge aims to improve upon her third-place finish at the 2023 championship, where she clocked a time of 22:15.0. Sophomores Norah Reade and Cayley Swaim finished among the league's top 10 last year in eighth (22:33.5) and ninth (22:34.1) respectively. Reade competed in three races this season and her best time was at Connecticut College (White Race, 22:59.1). Her other 6-kilometer race of the season was at Paul Short (23:12.2). Swaim was among the top 30 in the Connecticut College Blue Race in 28th at 23:18.5. Her best 6k time of the season was at Paul Short, 23:14.5.
RPI eyes a return atop the team podium for the first time since 2022 as the Engineers have made some noise this season as the top Liberty League team in Lehigh's Paul Short Run (4th overall of 46) and Geneseo's Mike Woods Invitational (3rd overall of 29). They are paced by 2024 Liberty League Co-Rookie of the Year Jules Bleskoski, who finished among the top two in all three of her races this season, including a pair of individual titles (Williams Invitational, Paul Short Run). She posted a career-best 6-kilometer time of 20:42.5 at Paul Short and was only two seconds behind that mark at Mike Woods (20:44.3). Last year, she was 13th at the conference championship with a time of 22:47.4 and was the second finisher among the Engineers. Other key contributors this season include senior Olivia Pisacano and first-year Erin VonHousen, who were also among the top seven at Williams and Geneseo. Pisacano was the individual runner-up in 2023, posting a time of 21:51.3. This season, she was the runner-up at Williams (25:42) and dropped more than four minutes from her time for third at Mike Woods, 21:25.0. She was also eighth at Paul Short with her season-best 6k time of 21:17.0. VonHousen has made an immediate impact for RPI, the three-time Rookie of the Week selection, was fourth at Williams (25:58.8) and seventh at Mike Woods (21:49.1). She was also among the top 30 at the Paul Short Run, crossing the finish line in 22:05.7.
A trio of runners—senior Emma Palumbo, sophomore Charlotte Blake, and first-year Avery Blanchard will help host
St. Lawrence attempt to capture its first league title since 2021 heading into this year's championship. As a team, the Saints finished first to open the season at Plattsburgh and were third in both the Hamilton Short Course Invitational as well as St. Lawrence's own Hoffmann Invitational. Palumbo earned All-Liberty League First Team recognition last year, placing fourth with a time of 22:19.3. In 2024, Palumbo posted a season-best time of 23:43.5 at Paul Short and she finished among the top 25 at Hoffmann with a time of 24:25.4. Blake earned All-Liberty League second team honors a year ago with a 14th-place finish at the championship and a time of 22:48.4. This year, Blake was the team's top runner at Hoffmann where she was 11th (23:34.5). She also finished among the top 100 in the Paul Short Run (99th, 22:54.9). Blanchard has had a strong rookie campaign, finishing among the top 15 at Hoffmann with a time of 23:58.9 and she just capped off the regular season with a 50th-place showing among 277 runners at Connecticut College (22:18.8). She also took part in Paul Short, where she was 68th of 387 with a time of 22:26.7.
RIT will also be in the mix as one of the top teams at this year's conference championship as the Tigers seek their first Liberty League title in program history. They have produced four top-three team finishes this season, including a team victory at Houghton's Highlander Invitational. RIT was second at the St. John Fisher Invitational and third in two races (Roberts Wesleyan, Fredonia). They are led by senior Sierra Danieu, who earned a pair of individual tiles this year at Houghton and Fredonia with times of 21:50.7 and 22:20.4, respectively. Her time of 21:50.7 was a 6-kilometer career best. At last year's championship, Danieu WAS 11th and garnered All-Liberty League second-team accolades with a time of 22:39.2. She will be joined by Eva Reilly, who was 26th last year (23:38.0). This season, Reilly placed among the top 15 at Fredonia (15th) and Houghton (10th). At Fredonia, she crossed the finish line in 24:03.5 and then posted a time of 23:41.9 at Houghton. Sophomore Kathryn Arbegast is coming off a runner-up finish at Houghton, posting a career-best 22:44.1. She was also eighth at the University of Rochester Invitational with a time of 23:15.0.
Other runners to watch at the 2024 championship….
Ithaca's Jessica Goode will compete in her third Liberty League Championship and the junior will look to return to her 2022 form when she placed third (22:39) at the meet and earned a spot on the All-Liberty League First Team. Last year, she earned honorable mention honors, crossing the finish line in 22:59.7 for 17th. This year, she recorded a fifth-place finish at Fredonia with a time of 23:17. She was also 23rd at Mike Woods (22:29.6) and Rochester's Invitational (24:04.8). First-year Hannah Pawloski will also provide a boost to the Bombers, she posted a season-best 6k time of 24:03.9 at Mike Woods in mid-October.
Union senior Cat Dacey is back; last year she was the Garnet Chargers' first All-Liberty League first-team honoree, with a fifth place showing (22:27.8). This season, she continues to be one of the conference's top individual runners, placing among the top 15 in all five of her races, including four top-five finishes. At the Paul Short Run (Green Race), she was third with a time of 22:01.2. She posted a career-best 6k time of 21:34.1 at Connecticut College, good for 14th. Junior Hope Johnson of the
William Smith Cross Country team is the Herons' top returner from last year's championship. She was among the top 50 in 2023 (47th, 24:36.4) and second for William Smith. This year, she won the individual title at the Cross Country Only Championship as she led the Herons to the team victory with a time of 24:42.9. She was also the runner-up at the SUNY Poly Wildcat Invitational with a career-best time of 24:03.9 on a 6k course. Clarkson sophomore Alexandra Simon was the runner-up at the Cross Country Only Championship, crossing the finish line in 25:26.6. She was the Golden Knights' second finisher last year with a time of 26:26.5. Bard's Emma St. Peter has paced the team all season and the first year will look to continue that streak as she closed out the regular season with a season-best 6k time at Western New England (26:41.6). She also posted a pair of top 12 finishes at the New Paltz (8th) and Queensborough (12th) Invitationals.