Risko Captures 5,000m Crown At New England D3 Outdoor Championship

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. — Endicott junior distance runner Hannah Risko (Albany, N.Y.) became the first student-athlete in women's track and field program history to win a New England DIII Outdoor Championship on Friday evening at Mount Holyoke College. 

Risko broke the tape in the 5,000m run with a time of 17:38.33, shattering her school record and breaking the facility record, in the process.

Her historic performance included shaving 33.26 seconds off her personal best time of 18:11.59.

Remarkably, Risko came into the 5,000m run seeded 10th overall out of 21 competitors. 

She edged out the No. 1 seed from Coast Guard by 1.43 seconds to claim the first individual regional championship in program history, indoors or outdoors, and scored 10 points for Endicott in the team standings.

Additionally, Risko earned All-New England honors for today's performance (top-8 finishers receive All-New England accolades).

Olivia Novello (Ipswich, Mass.) and Kinneal Dickens (Merrimac, Mass.) also competed for the Gulls on Friday. The duo finished 18th (16.25) and 19th (16.50) in the 100m hurdle prelims.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott wraps up competition at the NCAA D3 New England Championships tomorrow. The Gulls will compete in the 400m, 1,500m, 3,000m steeplechase, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, and 4x800m relay. 

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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)