Emily Ritter breaks 3,000-meter record at Rider University
Rider senior Emily Ritter, a graduate of Sussex Tech, set a new Rider University record in the 3,000 meters in 9:46.96, finishing eighth overall, fourth among collegiate runners at the New York City Armory Friday in the Gotham Cup.
“We did have a few outstanding individual performances from the team today,” head coach Bob Hamer said. “Emily set a new Rider record in the 3,000 and also qualified for ECACs.”
Ritter, a 5-foot-9 distance runner from Millsboro, was recently named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Female Track Performer of the Week. Ritter won the mile (5:03.14) and the 800 meters (2:17.87) at the Army 5-Way Invite against Lehigh, Manhattan, Marist, Loyola Maryland and the host Knights this past Saturday.
“Emily had a tremendous cross country season, and she has carried that momentum into the indoor track season,” said Hamer. “She has worked hard to get to this level of success, and I am very excited to watch her compete this season. It is a well-deserved honor.” Ritter has the top time in the MAAC in both the mile and 800 meters.
This is the third time in 2014-15 that Ritter has earned conference honors, having been named the Cross Country Performer of the Week twice this past fall, and she finished fourth at the 2014 MAAC Cross Country Championships Oct. 31.
Ritter was named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic track and field team this past summer. Majoring in secondary education/biology, Ritter owns a 3.51 grade point average.
As a junior during the outdoor season, Ritter competed at the NCAA East Regional in the 3,000 steeplechase, qualifying after she placed third at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships and earned All-East honors in a Rider-record time of 10:21.32.
Henlopen Indoor Track & Field
The Henlopen Conference Indoor Track Championships were held at the Snow Hill Recreation Center Jan. 22 with seven teams competing in the meet. Look for results in next week’s Cape Gazette from the Cape Henlopen Vikings, led by Sam Young in the pole vault and DaJonte Mackey in the hurdles, and the Sussex Tech Ravens with top downstate distance stars Sam Hete and Roxanne Ramirez always in the hunt for a title and Kani Kane in the shot.
Just around the corner are the Delaware State Indoor Championships that will be held in Maryland (yes, I said Maryland) Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex in Landover, Md.
MacElrevey’s first competition
Cape graduate Austin MacElrevey competed last week with his U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men’s track & field team that took part in the St. Joseph’s-Long Island Winter Invitational at St. Anthony’s High School. MacElrevey competed in the 1-mile run where he finished fifth overall in a time of 4:43.06. The Mariners competed with 11 team members in seven events on the day.
MacElrevey and his team unveiled new white speed suits this week for the St. Joe’s Invite Meet on Saturday that according to the website will be first worn by the sprinters. It is still uncertain whether distance runner MacElrevey will be sporting the new speed suit in the near future.
