Three runners on the women’s cross country team are All-Ivy selections, the most in school history.
From left, Ariana Gardizy, Maddie Villalba, and Nia Akins of the women’s cross country team.
Seniors Maddie Villalba and Nia Akins and sophomore Ariana Gardizy of the women’s cross country team have earned All-Ivy honors, the first time in the history of the program that three runners have earned All-conference recognition. Villalba is a First-Team All-Ivy selection and Akins and Gardizy are Second-Team All-Ivy awardees.
Racing at the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships on Nov. 1 in The Bronx, New York, Villalba finished fourth with a time of 21:02.1. Gardizy placed 13th with a time of 21:33.0 and Akins was right behind her with a time of 21:37.1.
As a team, the women’s cross country squad finished in third place, only its second Top 3 placement since 2005.
Villalba shaved more than 20 seconds off of her 2018 performance at the Ivy Heps.
Villalba, from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, shaved more than 20 seconds off of her 2018 performance at the Ivy Heps, when she finished with a time of 21:35.5 and placed 32nd. She finished fourth at last year’s NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional and was a NCAA Cross Country Championships qualifier.
Akins, a superstar on the track & field team from San Diego, bested her 2018 Ivy Heps performance this year as well, improving from a time of 21:40.2 and a 36th-place finish.
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Griffin Pitt’s upbringing made her passionate about water access and pollution, and Penn has given her the opportunity to explore these issues back home in North Carolina and abroad.
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