Nine Athenas Earn USTFCCCA All-West Region Distinction

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Nine members of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's track and field team earned All-West Region honors from the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the organization announced this week.

All-West honors were given to athletes who ranked in the top five in the region in their individual events, or in the top three in a relay. CMS as a team earned all-region honors in 12 different events, with four Athenas earning it in two individual events. 

Leading the way were Caroline DelVecchio and Laura Zimmer, who earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors in three events, including the 4x400 relay, along with teammates Mikaela Lipsky and Lucy Konsmo. DelVecchio was also All-West in the 100-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles, while Zimmer captured it in both the 800 meters and the 1500 meters. 

Also winning All-West honors in multiple events were Meredith Bloss (5000 meters, 10000 meters) and Riley Harmon (5000 meters, steeplechase). CMS actually had three of the five all-region honors in the 5000 meters with Clarke joining Bloss and Harmon. Clarke went on to earn All-America honors in the 5000 by finishing seventh at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships, with Delvecchio ending sixth in the 400-meter hurdles. 

Also earning All-America honors, as well as All-Region distinction, was Brooke Simon, who came in seventh in the pole vault at the NCAA Championships. Simon was a two-time All-American this year, after finishing sixth at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, where Bloss also earned All-America honors in the 5000 by coming in seventh. Natalie Bitetti, who joined Clarke, Harmon and Bloss in earning All-America honors during cross country season, was an All-West Region honoree in the 1500 meters. 

CMS earned the SCIAC Championship this season, its sixth in a row after waiting two years to defend its 2019 title. The Athenas edged Redlands by 24 points after trailing going into the final two events, but using a 1-2-3 finish in the 5000 from Clarke, Harmon and Bloss to surge in front to stay. Harmon (steeplechase) and Bloss (10000) earned SCIAC titles the previous day as well to help CMS to the title, while DelVecchio (100 hurdles, 400 hurdles) and Simon (pole vault) won individual SCIAC championships as well.