Championship Program
Spokane, WA – Senior cross country runners Nick Filippazzo and Elizabeth Eickelberg will take part in the 2013 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships on Saturday at the Plants Ferry Athletic Complex in Spokane, Washington. The women's race is slated to go off at 10:30am (Pacific Time) with the men to follow at 11:30 am.
Both harriers earned their ticket to the national meet by way of a top-three finish at the NCAA East Regional Championship back on Sunday, November 9. Filippazzo was the region's runner up after traversing the 10,000m course at Franklin Park in a time of 31:17 while Eickelberg placed third with a time of 22:12 over 6k. Each earned All-Region honors in the process. This year marks the third straight time that an Adelphi Athlete will have competed on the national scene and the fifth over the last seven years.
For Filippazzo, Saturday marks his first NCAA appearance. During the season, he finished in the top-five on four occasions and won the St. John's/Hofstra Fall Festival and the UAlbany Invitational. The Wantagh, N.Y. native placed fourth at the NE-10 Championships to earn First-Team All-Conferece honors.
Eickelberg makes her second straight cross country national championship after helping her team qualify last year. There, she was the Panther's first runner across the line in 127th place. This year, the Leonia, NJ native finished in the top-11 in each of her six races including a win at the St. John's/Hofstra Fall Festival. She posted an impressive 10th place finish at the famed Paul Short Run and then went on to earn First-Team All-Conference honors with a fourth place finish at the NE-10 Championships.
The Panthers made their first national appearance back in 1975 when the men's squad went on to place 15th. After 26 years without a single runner at the NCAA Championships, the 2001 women's squad finally broke the ice. They earned a 22nd place finish and qualified the following year, taking home 21st. After a five year hiatus, Ify Anene became the first female individual to qualify. In back-to-back appearances, she placed 79th in 2007 and then improved to 60th the following year. In 2010, Andrew Coelho made the first of his three national runs. He earned an 88th place finish but moved up to 29th and 30th over the next two years to earn All-American status. Along with Coelho's final championship run in 2012, the women team qualified as a team and went on to place 26th.
Adelphi Cross Country NCAA Championship History Year Team/Individual Finish
1975 Men's Team 15th Place
2001 Women's Team 22nd Place
2002 Women's Team 21st Place
2007 Ify Anene 79th Place
2008 Ify Anene 60th Place
2010 Andrew Coelho 88th Place
2011 Andrew Coelho 29th Place (AA)
2012 Andrew Coelho 30th Place (AA)
2012 Women's Team 26th Place
