Sophomore Daphnee Lavassas continues her dominance on the cross-country course finishing in the top-25 at the NCAA South Regional Cross Country Championships on Friday.
“Daphnee had a tremendous race today,” said Coach Cody Halsey. “She took big risks and that’s always something to be proud of. It was great to see her finish inside the top 25. I’m really excited about how far she’s come in only a short year.”
Lavassas crossed the line in 22nd place with a new personal best of 20:22.8 in the 6K to earn All-Region honors, this is Miami’s best performance at the regional race in the past 17 years. The school record holder in the 6K, Melanie Schultz (19:56.10) edges out Lavassas by only 27.7 seconds after Friday’s competition.
Sophomore Elle Mezzio was the second Hurricane to cross the line at regionals, she placed 59th and set a new personal record of 21:18.5. Mezzio’s finish was the sixth fastest 6K in school history.
”Our Women’s top 6 averaged 35sec faster than our Women’s top 6 on this same course last year,” said Halsey. “I’m proud of what they did today, even if it didn’t show in the results.”
Sophomore Austen Cannon had a strong showing in his second 10K at Miami, finishing .19 behind the school record with a time of 31:29.80. Earning a new personal best and a 67th place finish. This time is the second fastest 10K in school history, adding Cannon to the record book in the event.
Freshman Enrique Borrego finished second for the Hurricanes in his debut at the South Regional competition. He finished his first 10K with a time of 32:24.30. Sophomore Cormac O’Brien crossed the line third for Miami with a time of 33:03.40 in his first 10K.
“Austen moved up 75 places from where he scored here last year,” said Halsey. “That’s incredible improvement and I’m thrilled about his development. Enrique, as a true freshman, also had a great race. It can be daunting to run your first 10k and left it all out on the course. It was fun to watch”
The Miami women finished in 16th place out of 32 teams competing, Freshman Mia Rodriguez, Sophomore Amaya Turner, Freshman Candace Kieffer all earned personal bests in the regional race.
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