By Cory Nidoh
Opinion Editor
For the second time in two weeks, the East Stroudsburg University Women’s Cross Country team outpaced the competition as sophomore Allison Decker won the individual title at UMass-Dartmouth last Saturday.
This comes after ESU won the team title at Fordham in the season opener on September 6, where junior Chelsea Conover and Decker finished second and third respectively.
Ranked eleventh in the PSAC preseason polls, ESU has come out strong in their first two meets due in large part to Decker’s success.
With the first place finish by the Milford native, ESU finished atop the field of 39 schools that competed in the event in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts.
Decker finished the race with a time of 17:50.09, which was better than 271 other runners. In the first race of the season, Decker finished third alongside teammate and lone top five returning runner, junior Chelsea Conover.
The duo fueled the Warriors to their first title of the season back on September 6 and second straight at the Fordham Ram Invitational dating back to last year.
Conover finished second last week pacing ESU over 11 Division II and III schools.
In the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational, the New Jersey native finished third overall and second on the team with a time of 17:57.97.
The top five finish is Conover’s second of the season, and fourth of her career at ESU. The top two finishes in her first two races this year matches her total top five finishes for all of last year. For Decker, this is her first action as a Warrior.
She recorded two top finishes already to her ledger and was recently named PSAC Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week.
The Warriors are off this weekend, but return to action on October 4 when they take part in the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
The season will culminate in November when the PSAC Championships are held on November 8 in Mansfield, followed by the NCAA Division II Regional on November 22 at Slippery Rock University.
Email Cory at:
cnidoh@live.esu.edu
