DelVecchio, Clarke Cap Off Season with All-America Honors for CMS Women's Track and Field

GENEVA, Ohio - Caroline DelVecchio finished in sixth place in the 400-meter hurdles, breaking her own CMS record for the second time this weekend, and Emily Clarke set a new PR in the 5000 (third all-time at CMS) to come in seventh, to earn All-America honors on the final day of the 2022 NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships at the SPIRE Institute.

Clarke earned All-America honors during cross country season as well, when she helped the Athenas to their best team finish in school history, two points behind Johns Hopkins for the team title. Clarke and DelVecchio join Brooke Simon, the seventh-place finisher in the pole vault on Thursday, to give CMS three All-Americans this year and eight points in the team standings.

DelVecchio came into the NCAA Championships holding the CMS record with a time of 1:01.21, set at the Bryan Clay Invitational in April, and then trimmed .19 off that mark in prelims on Thursday with a 1:01.02. She ran in the 100-meter hurdles prelims as well on Friday after qualifying for nationals in two events, but didn't reach the finals, putting her focus on Saturday's finals day squarely on the 400 hurdles.

The result was a 1:00.65, taking another .37 off her CMS record, which was good for a sixth-place finish. Simone Wilson of Concordia won the title with a 58.98, while DelVecchio's finish put her .04 behind fifth-place Jayci Andrews of Bridgewater State, and just .01 ahead of seventh-place Elayna Bahl of Loras, as the three runners crossed nearly simultaneously, with all three making the All-America podium. 

Clarke later made it two Athenas on the podium with a new personal-best of 16:40.93, knocking five seconds off her previous best, to take seventh in the 5000 meters. Clarke missed the podium by one spot at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, coming in ninth, and at one point looked in danger of having a similar result during outdoor season. However, she was able to find the extra gear she needed and finish over 10 seconds above the All-America cutoff. 

A strong finish, in fact, moved her up one spot on the podium as well, as she made a push down the final straightaway to catch Erin Magill of Brandeis from behind and finish seventh by just two-tenths of a second. Ari Marks of Wellesley won the race in 16:08.90, over 10 seconds ahead of Kassie Parker of Loras. 

Riley Harmon also ran in the 5000 meters and finished in 14th place. Meredith Bloss also competed in the 10000 meters on Thursday and finished 10th, while Natalie Bitetti (18th) and Laura Zimmer (20th) competed in the 1500. Clarke, Harmon, Bloss, Bitetti, and Zimmer were all part of the cross country team that finished second in the fall.