Roadrunner Women's Cross Country standout Laney Vecchio received two major surprises when she traveled to Fort Dodge, Iowa Nov. 8th to compete in the NJCAA Division III Championship Meet hosted by Iowa Central Community College.

First, she and her teammates were greeted with a Midwest snowstorm that blanketed the Iowa golf course where the championship meet was being held.

Second, the Delsea High grad decided to shake off the frigid elements and focus on sticking with her race plan against the nation's top JUCO runners on the flat Iowa Central CC course. And her plan worked perfectly as won the NJCAA Division III National Championship with a top time of 20:20.5 to win the race by a 12-second margin over runnerup Tyliyah Diaz-Cruz of Thaddeus Stevens (Pa.).

Vecchio took firm control of the 5K race after the 1K split from Diaz-Cruz in cruising to the triumph. She recorded splits of 3:36 after 1K, 4:57 after 2K, 4:08 after 3K, 4:15 after 4K, and 4:14.5 in the final stretch to claim the win.

"I was surprised at the heavy snow and I certainly didn't expect to win the race," said Laney, a psychology major.

While the storm affected all participants from running their top times, it did not prevent Vecchio from finishing as the DIII National Champion..

"It was a great experience," she said. "I decided to start out slower, and then I was able to close out faster. I just stuck to my plan and ran the race I wanted to, and it worked out well. And the cooler weather didn't bother me at all."

The next place winner for the Runners was freshman Kayla Ayars, who finished 36th in 24:21. Gabriella Szwed, Amelia Helkowski and Georgia Lorenzetti were other Roadrunner finishers.

In the men's 8K Championship Meet, Kevin Profico (45th), Sean Gallo (53rd) and Ryne Handley (55th) were top finishers for the Runners.

Meet recap:
https://www.ustfccca.org/2025/11/featured/meet-recap-2025-njcaa-cross-country-championships

Meet Results
https://results.wayzatatiming.com/meets/58391