Moravian Honors 2020 Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Seniors

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- With their 2020 outdoor season cancelled before it began by COVID-19, the Moravian College Department of Athletics & Recreation today honors the nine senior members of the Greyhounds' women's track & field and cross country teams that missed out on their Senior Day.

The group has helped the women's track & field program capture three Landmark Conference Indoor Championships and three Landmark Conference Outdoor titles in their careers as well as three runner-up finishes at the Landmark Conference Cross Country Championships.

Senior Vanessa Blose competed in the throwing events for four seasons at Moravian, participating in the shot put and weight throw indoors and the shot put, discus, javelin and hammer throw outdoors. Vanessa was named to the Landmark Conference Winter and Fall Academic Honor Rolls three times apiece, and she made Moravian's Dean's List seven times and is a member of Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society. Vanessa is the daughter of Kimberly and Harold Blose, and she is majoring in secondary education and English with a minor in history at Moravian.

"Vanessa took a short hiatus from the team during her time here due to a lot of obligations and other responsibilities she juggles back at home, but Coach Jon and I were extremely happy when she rejoined us her junior season at a time when our team was taking hits in many events," said Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jesse Baumann. "We were thinner in the throws and she helped to score points for us and contribute to our narrow team wins in both seasons. She always demanded perfection from herself and at times was almost too hard on herself but the silver lining to that is she's never content with being satisfactory which is a great example to set for the team and certainly to carry on into her teaching career and life beyond college."

Senior Carly Danoski captured three Landmark Conference Indoor Championships in 2020, winning the 800-meter run, the mile run and as part of the 4x400-meter relay team. She was selected as All-Mideast Region in all three events by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for being in the top five in each of the individual events and the top three in the relay among all of the competitors in the region. Carly was set to run in the mile at the 2020 NCAA Division III National Championships on Friday, March 13 when the championship was cancelled. Carly is an eight-time Landmark Conference Indoor Champion, capturing the title in the 800-meter run in 2018, 2019 and 2020, the mile run in 2019 and 2020 and the 4x400-meter relay in 2018, 2019 and 2020. She earned All-Conference Second Team honors as a freshman in the 4x400-meter relay in 2017 when she also finished third in the 400-meter dash and the 11th in the 800-meter run at the Landmark Championship meet. Carly made her first trip to the NCAA DIII Indoor Championships in 2019 where she finished 16th in the 800-meter run preliminaries. Carly had four Landmark Outdoor titles – the 800-meter run in 2018 and 2019, the 1,500-meter run in 2019 and the 4x400-meter relay in 2019, and she is a three-time All-Conference Second Team honoree in the 1,500-meter run in 2018, the 4x400-meter relay in 2018 and the 800-meter run in 2017. Carly also competed at the NCAA DIII Outdoor Championships twice in the 800-meter run, finishing 18th in 2019 and 19th in 2018. She earned a pair of Landmark All-Conference Second Team accolades in cross country with tenth place finishes in 2018 and 2019. Off the track, Carly has maintained a 3.90 GPA in environmental science with a minor in French, and she was named the 2020 Landmark Conference Women's Indoor Track & Field Senior Scholar-Athlete. Carly has made Moravian's Dean's List six times, and she is a three-time selection to the Landmark Conference Fall, Winter and Spring Academic Honor Rolls. Carly is also a member of Moravian's Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society, and she was also selected to the 2018 and 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-District Team for Women's Track & Field and Cross Country. Carly is the daughter of Mary Jo and Jody Danoski, and she is majoring in environmental science with a minor in French at Moravian.

"Our women's distance runners have been among the strongest groups in our XC/TF programs over the years, and some of the more storied athletes at Moravian College. We've had multiple National Champions and myriad All Americans, so when an athlete starts to objectively prove they're in that company, you know you have a truly special athlete," stated Baumann. "Carly holds three school records including two Landmark Conference records in the 800 and the mile. In the case of the mile, she wound up breaking the school record of a former NCAA Champ, Heidi Peoples, who was one of the more accomplished athletes to compete for Moravian. Heading into the NCAA Championships in March, Carly was one of the top four seeds and within a second of the top seed. I'm confident she could have been in contention for a National Championship herself. Unfortunately, she didn't have the opportunity to prove herself on that stage but despite that, the career she has had, and especially what she achieved in her abbreviated senior season puts her in some rarified air when it comes to legends in the history of our school's running program. Carly got to this level because she's a diligent disciplined worker who is able to go the extra distance. She's an incredible student as well, having made Dean's List every semester here. It's no surprise she's achieved all of this since she is intrinsically-motivated, focused, rational, humble, and simply a great person that is embodies everything you want to see in a student-athlete."

Senior Marlee Hornbaker competed for the Greyhounds on the cross country course and in distance events on the track both indoors and outdoors. Marlee is a three-time member of the Landmark Conference Academic Honor Roll in each of the fall, winter and spring seasons while being selected to Moravian's Dean's List seven times and the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society. Marlee was also honored on both the 2019 Winter and Fall Landmark Conference All-Sportsmanship Teams.  Marlee is the daughter of Tammy Snyder, and she is majoring in nursing at Moravian.

"Marlee is the type of person I could trust implicitly," Baumann explained. "She is reliable, disciplined, driven, has high moral character, and in general is simply a good person. At times she was way too hard on herself, but that's one of those so-called problems you like to have. She held herself to an extremely high standard in her major, with running, and how she treated others so she was always someone I could confide in, delegate tasks to, or serve as a sounding board. She already is a very passionate nurse and will thrive in this moving forward."

Senior Katie Mayer was honored as the 2016 Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year while earning spots on the Landmark All-Conference First Team in 2016 and 2018 and the All-Conference Second Team in 2017 on the cross country course. Katie earned NCAA Division III All-Mideast Region honors in 2016, and she was a four-time honoree on the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Cross Country All-Academic Team. Katie has made Moravian's Dean's List seven times and was selected to the 2018 Landmark Conference Winter All-Sportsmanship Team. She is a three-time selection to the Landmark Conference Fall, Winter and Spring Academic Honor Rolls, and Katie is also a member of Moravian's Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society. Katie is the daughter of Tina Mayer and Brian Kincaid, and she is majoring in environmental science at Moravian.

"Katie is driven, kind, sincere, and was a phenomenal student-athlete in her time at Moravian due to these traits," Baumann noted. "She has one of the more decorated running careers in recent years earning All-Region honors twice, was the Landmark Freshman of the Year, nearly made XC NCAAs, and was a routine top five runner for our team ever since her freshman year. Katie is devoted to environmental sciences as well having attended conferences even outside of the country and worked on a SOAR project while on campus here, so she has routinely sought opportunities to thrive academically. She's a high-quality person who will certainly be missed!."

Senior Shayne McNally competed on the cross country squad for three years and ran on the track squad all four seasons. Shayne was honored on the Landmark Conference Winter and Spring Academic Honor Rolls three times apiece and the Landmark Conference Fall Academic Honor Roll twice. Shayne is a member of Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society, and she made the Moravian Dean's List five times. Shayne is the daughter of Dana McNally and Sean McNally, and she is majoring in media relations with a minor in Spanish.

"Shayne went through quite an evolution in her time here while she battled some injuries and other variables that resulted in her dropping down in distance to the sprints and adding the hurdles after having been a cross country runner most of her high school career," commented Baumann. "It took some time for her to adjust to new training and certainly picking up the hurdles but she wound up placing for the Hounds twice in the 400 hurdles at Landmarks and then began a big breakthrough this indoor season, running her fastest collegiate 400m at Landmarks. Obviously, it's hard to see the senior year lost for any of our athletes, but with Shayne's rapid ascension towards the end of indoors, the staff would have loved to see where that would have gone outdoors, especially in the hurdles. In addition to her talents, Shayne was extremely personable and loved by her teammates so we'll certainly be missing a positivity that she brought to the team every day."

Senior Rachel Mikols raced in distance events for all four years on both the cross country and track & field teams for the Hounds. Rachel is a three-time selection to the Landmark Conference Academic Honor Roll in each of the fall, winter and spring seasons while being selected to Moravian's Dean's List four times and the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society. Rachel is the daughter of Carolyn and Greg Mikols, and she is majoring in graphic design with a minor in marketing at Moravian.

"Rachel has battled through a number of nagging injuries throughout her career including a stress fracture as we adapted our training to what worked best for her," stated Baumann. "She had a number of reasons to be discouraged as things didn't go as easily as we'd hope, but like her teammates will say, she's tough, devoted, and loyal to her team, the program, and her training. I still vividly recall an unseasonably warm day in cross country where she ran herself to exhaustion during some 400 repeats on the track and the entire team jumped in to help her out with water, Gatorade, and cool towels.  She was revered by her team, and this was just one of many reflections of that.  In addition to that she was a very strong student, routinely making the Dean's List, extremely loyal to her family, and overall was a passionate athlete in our program. She was one of the better steeplechasers we've had in recent years, very versatile, and a constant strength for our team in cross country."

Senior Ashley Rohrer was a four-year member of both the Moravian cross country and track & field squads. Ashley earned Landmark All-Conference First Team honors in the indoor distance medley relay as the Greyhounds won the race. Ashley has made the Moravian's Dean's List twice. Ashley is the daughter of Brenda and Jim Rohrer, and she is majoring in marketing communications with a minor in education at Moravian.

"Ashley has been a staple for our team all four years here in the steeplechase, numerous relays, and in cross country, routinely representing us in our top seven or scoring points for us at the conference track meets," Baumann explained. "She has a very genuine sweetness to her that brought a positive energy to the team every day. It was hard to be in a bad mood when she was around which proved to be as valuable to our team as the points she scored for us at meets. Ashley would stop in our office for sometimes hours at a time just to talk running, catch up, or simply lighten the mood of our staff so the infectious positivity she brought to the team and even the staff will certainly be missed. However, as I mentioned above, she was a very good athlete for us scoring numerous times in the steeplechase and even making AARTFCs last year in the event. She's on our all-time cross country list, managed to break 20:00 in the 5k this winter and leaves Moravian as one of our better runners of the past decade."

Senior Alyssa Ullmann competed on both the cross country and track & field teams during her career with the Hounds. Alyssa was named to Moravian's Dean's List once. Alyssa is the daughter of Susan and Eugene Ullmann, and she is majoring in health sciences at Moravian.

"Alyssa had a host of injuries and other health setbacks that hindered her running career at Moravian," said Baumann. "It's unfortunate because when she was healthy, she showed an immense amount of potential especially in 2018 when she was breaking 2:30 in the 800 and closing in on 5:00 in the 1500. She certainly pushed herself as much as conceivably possible, many times running up to and through stress reactions and a number of respiratory issues that prevented her from reaching the levels she could have achieved. People saw the way she pushed herself and developed a fondness and respect for her because of it. Furthermore, she has a personality that people gravitated towards and is certainly a presence that will be missed on the team moving forward."

Senior Hailee Yoder participated on the track & field team for four years, and she was on the Greyhounds' women's volleyball squad for her first two years at Moravian. Hailee was honored on the 2017 Landmark Conference Fall Academic Honor Roll while playing volleyball, and she made the Landmark Conference Winter Academic Honor Roll twice and the Landmark Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll three times. Hailee has made Moravian's Dean's List six times, and she is a member of Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society. Hailee is the daughter of Kerry Albright, and she is majoring in psychology and sociology at Moravian.

"Hailee was a constant and consistent performer for our program the last four years," noted Baumann. "She went through a few different injury stints of her own, but she was always prepared and could be counted on at the conference meets. She was also willing to be a team player after coming in freshman year as a javelin only thrower and turning into a top 10 discus thrower and shot putter in the Landmark Conference when we needed it. Always someone with a consistently positive attitude and drive to improve herself every time she laced up her shoes, Hailee has all the tools to succeed in her graduate school studies. We also hope she continues to share her love of animals and sock wear choices with her future colleagues."

Graphics on all nine seniors will be posted throughout the next two days on Moravian's social media accounts.