Pirate Moments Presented by BURG: Christiana Cruises
7/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
The 2014-15 year was another to remember in Seton Hall Athletics, as the Pirates continued to rise in their second year as a member of the revamped BIG EAST Conference.
Highlighted by three NCAA Regional berths (Volleyball, Women's Basketball, Women's Golf), there was no shortage of memorable moments across all 14 varsity athletic programs as Seton Hall student-athletes continued to honor and further the university's proud athletic tradition.
Over three weeks, SHUPirates.com in conjunction with BURG will reveal its countdown of the year that was.
CHRISTIANA CRUISES
The fall is a period marked by the prevalence of change. Weather is shifting and leaves are turning; signaling the transition from summer to autumn. For college freshmen that transition is even more dramatic as they take the first steps in the beginning of a new chapter.
During with a standout campaign last fall, it was a freshman with a spring in her step that helped accelerate the change that has been ignited within the Seton Hall women's cross country program.
Pirate newcomer and Middletown native Christiana Rutkowski wasted no time in announcing her arrival on the collegiate scene, pacing The Hall with a second-place finish in her debut outing at the Monmouth XC Kickoff in August.
The noteworthy performance kicked-off a stretch of three consecutive top-six finishes that marked the start of her career; the second of which helped yield a first in the history of what remains a young cross country program at The Hall.
Just one week after her impressive introduction, Rutkowski headlined a group of six Pirates that crossed the line among the top-12 entrants at the St. John's/Hofstra Fall Festival as Seton Hall captured its first team title in five years since transitioning to exclusively cross country.
With the team victory landmark passed on the road to becoming a perennial contender, SHU traveled down the coast, stopping in Daytona Beach to take on the field at the Asics-Embry Riddle Classic during the final week of September.
In the Sunshine State it was the rookie Rutkowski who shone the brightest, delivering a 5K time of 19:08.55 that out-paced her next closest collegiate competitor by nearly 14 seconds. Just four races into her career, Rutkowski strode her way to the top of the podium and accomplished a feat that no Pirate had managed in four years prior.
The Pirates left Daytona Beach with their fourth of five top-three team finishes in a year that was littered with signs of progress. As an individual, Rutkowski went on to lead The Hall in all nine events during the fall, and even added a second win at the Lafayette Invitational.
Though the first year of collegiate competition can prove challenging, freshman Christiana Rutkowski broke through and help set a standard where The Hall is routinely challenging for first.
