Danis, Murdock Lead ‘Cats to America East Title

Saturday, November 2

Albany, N.Y.

University of New Hampshire

America East Championships

Photo by: Photo - Bill Ziskin

11/2/2019 7:04:00 PM | Women's Cross Country

Results America East Release

UNH claims sixth title in seven years.

ALBANY, N.Y. – The University of New Hampshire women's cross country team won its seventh America East women's cross country Championship on Saturday morning, winning the meet with a team score of 30 points.

The Wildcats tallied all five scorers in the top 11 places, and six members of the team were named as All-Conference Selections, finishing in the top 15.

The Wildcats were led by junior Elisabeth Danis (Nottingham, N.H.) competing in her first America East Championship meet; Danis finished as the individual runner-up champion, finishing second overall in the 5-kilometer race with a time of 16:55.22.

She was followed closely by fifth-year senior Shannon Murdock (Exeter, N.H.) taking third overall with a time of 16:59.09. It's her second career top-5 finish, taking runner-up honors in UNH's 2017 championship win.

UNH's team score of 30 points was its second-best conference score in this seven-year stretch, beating out their most previous championship in 2017 when the Wildcats scored 37 points. Only the 2014 team scored lower, with a team score of 26.

The race was won individually by UAlbany's Hannah Reinhardt finishing in 16:45.74.

New Hampshire's coaching staff led by head coach Robert Hoppler was honored as the Coaching Staff of the Year. Murdock was honored as the women's cross country Elite-18 award winner, awarded to the event medalist with the highest GPA.

TEAM SCORES:

New Hampshire – 30
Vermont – 54
Stony Brook – 105
UAlbany – 132
Binghamton – 134
UMass Lowell – 136
UMBC – 143
Maine – 251
Hartford - 259

REPEATED SUCCESS:
UNH has now claimed the America East Women's Cross Country Championship in 2003, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019. Seven titles is the most by any other current America East Cross Country program, and second-most all-time.

UP NEXT:
The Wildcats, after a weekend off, head to the NCAA Regional Championships hosted by Buffalo on Friday, November 15.

POST-MEET HONORS:
2019 Individual Runner-Up: Elisabeth Danis
2019 All-Conference First Team:

2019 All-Conference Second Team:

Lauren Dean (Gilmanton Iron Works, N.H.)
Cayla Barretto (Woburn, Mass.)
Nicole Yeomans (Foxborough, Mass.)

Elite-18 Award – Shannon Murdock – 3.72 GPA
Coaching Staff of the Year – New Hampshire

FROM THE COACH:
Quotes from Head Coach Robert Hoppler.

"I'm very happy with the way the team ran, I thought we did a good job of executing our race plan, I thought we competed very well and raced very hard as a team. I'm proud of the preparation this team has put in over the summer and all year long and how this group has really come together as a team and as a unit; I think everyone's very excited about being on this team and being a part of this; buying into the team concept, racing in groups and working together."

"This team showed a lot of resilience; to regroup over the course of the last 12 months, not just focusing on this week but focusing this whole year to accomplish this goal. I'm proud of these ladies for the ability to do that, and have that long-term perspective."

On the runners:
"Murdock, Champagne and Danis did what they've been doing all season long, the next group of Dean, Yeomans, and Barretto, [Caroline] Mahoney, [Madeline] Quigley was in that mix as well, they really did a great job of competing."

On Murdock's Elite-18 award:
"I can't think of too many people that put more into academics as she does; to win that award and finish third in the race is a fantastic day for her."

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