Tickets// Cincinnati – This past Saturday, Cincinnati Cross Country athletes Ellie Leather and Alec Sandusky competed at the NCAA Championship meet in Tallahassee, FL. This is the first time in UC history that both a men's and women's team athlete has qualified for the championship meet in the same year. It marks Ellie Leather's first cross country championship meet and Alec Sandusky's last time competing for Cincinnati.
// Ellie Leather: First UC Woman to Compete at Nationals
Leather not only competed in her own first-ever championship cross country meet but goes down as the first ever UC women's cross country athlete to qualify and run at the meet. She has had a great season leading up to this final meet, where she finished in 109th with a time of 20:33.7 in the championship 6k.
Qualifying for the meet is "something I will never forget for the rest of my life; I was so proud and excited to represent the Bearcats at the highest stage" says Leather. "As a freshman, qualifying for an NCAA meet was something that wasn't achievable, but I said to myself that I would make it to a national championship meet before I left college. It took a while for me to process the whole season but now that it's over I think what I achieved has really started to sink in and it's a special feeling."
Running with Cincinnati has only brought more success for Leather this season. Some of her other top finishes include her 14th place finish at NCAA Regionals in 20:14.1, setting her own personal 6k record and tying the highest-ever UC finish at the regional meet. She earned Top-5 finishes at the Butler Twilight Invite, Notre Dame Invite, and FSU Invite, as well as a 10th place finish at the AAC Championship.
On running at Cincinnati, Leather says she owes "a lot to Coach Rogers. Since transferring to UC my junior year, Lara has elevated my running an incredible amount. I have gained so much more belief in myself and the ability to push myself to the next level. It's not only the Coaches here at UC but my teammates too; the support they give me each day is amazing and I love being part of this family."
Coach Lara Rogers could not be prouder of Leather's achievements and says of her progression through the year that "Through each race…she got better and better, really starting to see the gains at Pre-Nationals, getting 4th and breaking through that 21 min mark. Heading into championship season she was ready, but after a little bug she didn't attain the conference title she was hoping for. However, she gutted it out in true teammate form to help the women's team garner their highest finish in program history. With a little rest she fought back at regionals to have that breakthrough performance we knew she was ready for, hitting her main goal of qualifying for the NCAA XC championship.
If you ask her, she'll say it wasn't a fairytale ending. But we couldn't be more proud of her. She was gutsy and ran her heart out in one of the most, if not the most, deep field in NCAA XC history. Finishing in the top half, and as the #1 female AAC finisher in the field - I'd say she had a pretty good ending."
Leather will be competing on the track in the Spring for both indoor and outdoor track season, where she has set big (but certainly achievable) goals of making an impact at the conference meet, setting PRs, breaking her own school records, and ultimately fighting for a spot at the national meet for both indoor and outdoor track.
// Alec Sandusky: One Final Race for Cincinnati
Alec Sandusky finished out his collegiate cross country career with none other than the NCAA championship meet. In one of the toughest fields of cross country athletes in history, Sandusky placed 136th in a time of 30:29.6 in the Men's Championship 10k.
After his graduation in December, Sandusky will be moving to Rochester Hills, Michigan to join Hansons-Brooks ODP, a professional running group sponsored by the shoe and apparel brand Brooks. You can follow along with his professional career on Hansons-Brooks' Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. He will primarily compete in the 5k and 10k with hopes of making it to a US qualifier meet for the Track and Field World Championship in Eugene, OR in 2022 and 2023.
Sandusky says competing at the NCAA Championship meet proved "I do belong in this environment, and I am good enough to achieve those things that I have trained for… It brings in a lot of things other than just being fast – it's such a mental fortitude as well."
Throughout this past cross country season Sandusky has earned multiple first-place finishes at the Butler Twilight Invite and the Notre Dame Invite. He ran a great race at the AAC Championship meet to take 3rd place and followed that up with a 6th place finish in the NCAA Regional Championship meet, earning his automatic qualifying spot for the NCAA Championship.
He also sees his experience running at Cincinnati as a huge part of his preparation to go pro. "It has given me a bigger stage and a bigger platform to compete at a higher level and allowed me to get better and be confident in myself," says Sandusky. "The environment of being a student-athlete at a big university is truly a once in a lifetime experience – there is a little less pressure and you feel like you don't have to be perfect all the time because you're expected to be learning and growing."
Coach Lucas Rothenberger will miss having Sandusky on the UC team. He says "The biggest thing about Alec, in my opinion, is his energy. He has a genuine passion and love for the sport, and I think it is pretty contagious. He was without question the heartbeat of the team, and he made my job as a first year coach, much easier because he came to practice each and every day with a positive attitude and a desire to get better.
Alec ran times and placed higher in competitions than he ever had before, but as a coach what I noticed was his composure and confidence. He simply was able to execute things that he would never have been able to do previously. A lot of times it is hard to pinpoint exactly what is different about an athlete, so we default to how much faster he has run but with Alec I would just say he simply became a much more capable, sophisticated, and skilled runner. He was significantly more versatile and well-rounded as an athlete than he has ever been, and that showed with his performances from the AAC Championships onwards all the way to the NCAA Championships.
He will continue to improve because he loves the sport, and he is willing to work hard. Those things seem simple but love for the sport and a high capacity for work are some of the most important character traits a distance runner can have."
// Ellie Leather: First UC Woman to Compete at Nationals
Leather not only competed in her own first-ever championship cross country meet but goes down as the first ever UC women's cross country athlete to qualify and run at the meet. She has had a great season leading up to this final meet, where she finished in 109th with a time of 20:33.7 in the championship 6k.
Qualifying for the meet is "something I will never forget for the rest of my life; I was so proud and excited to represent the Bearcats at the highest stage" says Leather. "As a freshman, qualifying for an NCAA meet was something that wasn't achievable, but I said to myself that I would make it to a national championship meet before I left college. It took a while for me to process the whole season but now that it's over I think what I achieved has really started to sink in and it's a special feeling."
Running with Cincinnati has only brought more success for Leather this season. Some of her other top finishes include her 14th place finish at NCAA Regionals in 20:14.1, setting her own personal 6k record and tying the highest-ever UC finish at the regional meet. She earned Top-5 finishes at the Butler Twilight Invite, Notre Dame Invite, and FSU Invite, as well as a 10th place finish at the AAC Championship.
On running at Cincinnati, Leather says she owes "a lot to Coach Rogers. Since transferring to UC my junior year, Lara has elevated my running an incredible amount. I have gained so much more belief in myself and the ability to push myself to the next level. It's not only the Coaches here at UC but my teammates too; the support they give me each day is amazing and I love being part of this family."
Coach Lara Rogers could not be prouder of Leather's achievements and says of her progression through the year that "Through each race…she got better and better, really starting to see the gains at Pre-Nationals, getting 4th and breaking through that 21 min mark. Heading into championship season she was ready, but after a little bug she didn't attain the conference title she was hoping for. However, she gutted it out in true teammate form to help the women's team garner their highest finish in program history. With a little rest she fought back at regionals to have that breakthrough performance we knew she was ready for, hitting her main goal of qualifying for the NCAA XC championship.
If you ask her, she'll say it wasn't a fairytale ending. But we couldn't be more proud of her. She was gutsy and ran her heart out in one of the most, if not the most, deep field in NCAA XC history. Finishing in the top half, and as the #1 female AAC finisher in the field - I'd say she had a pretty good ending."
Leather will be competing on the track in the Spring for both indoor and outdoor track season, where she has set big (but certainly achievable) goals of making an impact at the conference meet, setting PRs, breaking her own school records, and ultimately fighting for a spot at the national meet for both indoor and outdoor track.
// Alec Sandusky: One Final Race for Cincinnati
Alec Sandusky finished out his collegiate cross country career with none other than the NCAA championship meet. In one of the toughest fields of cross country athletes in history, Sandusky placed 136th in a time of 30:29.6 in the Men's Championship 10k.
After his graduation in December, Sandusky will be moving to Rochester Hills, Michigan to join Hansons-Brooks ODP, a professional running group sponsored by the shoe and apparel brand Brooks. You can follow along with his professional career on Hansons-Brooks' Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. He will primarily compete in the 5k and 10k with hopes of making it to a US qualifier meet for the Track and Field World Championship in Eugene, OR in 2022 and 2023.
Sandusky says competing at the NCAA Championship meet proved "I do belong in this environment, and I am good enough to achieve those things that I have trained for… It brings in a lot of things other than just being fast – it's such a mental fortitude as well."
Throughout this past cross country season Sandusky has earned multiple first-place finishes at the Butler Twilight Invite and the Notre Dame Invite. He ran a great race at the AAC Championship meet to take 3rd place and followed that up with a 6th place finish in the NCAA Regional Championship meet, earning his automatic qualifying spot for the NCAA Championship.
He also sees his experience running at Cincinnati as a huge part of his preparation to go pro. "It has given me a bigger stage and a bigger platform to compete at a higher level and allowed me to get better and be confident in myself," says Sandusky. "The environment of being a student-athlete at a big university is truly a once in a lifetime experience – there is a little less pressure and you feel like you don't have to be perfect all the time because you're expected to be learning and growing."
Coach Lucas Rothenberger will miss having Sandusky on the UC team. He says "The biggest thing about Alec, in my opinion, is his energy. He has a genuine passion and love for the sport, and I think it is pretty contagious. He was without question the heartbeat of the team, and he made my job as a first year coach, much easier because he came to practice each and every day with a positive attitude and a desire to get better.
Alec ran times and placed higher in competitions than he ever had before, but as a coach what I noticed was his composure and confidence. He simply was able to execute things that he would never have been able to do previously. A lot of times it is hard to pinpoint exactly what is different about an athlete, so we default to how much faster he has run but with Alec I would just say he simply became a much more capable, sophisticated, and skilled runner. He was significantly more versatile and well-rounded as an athlete than he has ever been, and that showed with his performances from the AAC Championships onwards all the way to the NCAA Championships.
He will continue to improve because he loves the sport, and he is willing to work hard. Those things seem simple but love for the sport and a high capacity for work are some of the most important character traits a distance runner can have."