NCAA Northeast Regionals: A race for the ages

Ramsey Little solidified himself as the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) with his incredible performance at today’s NCAA Northeast Regional race at Van Cortlandt Park. In his last race as a Marist cross country runner, Rams finished 14^th and covered the loopy 10km course in a program-record 29:49.8. He steadily moved up the field throughout the race. Here are his places at each split mat: 1.2km = 79^th place; 2.2km = 66^th place; 3.1km = 52nd place; 4.7km = 30^th place; 5.6km = 20^th place; 7.2km = 12^th place; 8.1km = 12^th place; 10km = 14^th place. Yes, he was actually in 12^th place for some of the latter stages of the race and as a result he was within striking distance of a coveted NCAA qualifying position. Note: It is incredibly difficult to make NCAAs as an individual runner. You have to finish in the top 4 individual spots outside of the qualifying teams. And, there are only two automatic qualifying teams! Ramsey’s race fell short of that goal, but little else. His has been an up-and-down season – but the ups have been truly remarkable! The Paul Short 23:34 time; the top-10 finish at MAACs; and now THIS, caps it all. The previous best finish at regionals was 25^th by Mike Melfi … way back in 1998, also at Van Cortlandt Park. Quimes DelaCruz was 26^th back in 2010. It’s just really rare to be this far up … and Ramsey was WAY far up. And while comparisons are tricky, we can say with great confidence that the depth of the Northeast Region is stronger than it has ever been – in terms of quality teams and quality runners. Our boy got himself on the podium today, in a year in which getting up there has never been so difficult. Nicely done, Ramsey!