University of Massachusets Athletics
Christina Derosa Named UMass/Dinn Bros. Athlete Of The Week
October 31, 2005 | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 31, 2005
AMHERST, Mass. - Sophomore Christina Derosa (Sound Beach, N.Y.) earned her first All-Conference honor with a sixth-place finish at the Atlantic 10 Championship on Saturday. She led UMass for the 13th consecutive race of her career guiding the Minutewomen to a ninth-place team finish. For her efforts, she has been named the UMass/Dinn Bros. Athlete of the Week and will be honored on Wednesday at the weekly UMass Sports Luncheon.
Derosa completed the 5K race in 18 minutes, 21.1 seconds cutting over 14 seconds off her 2004 time and improving by six places (finished 12th overall in 2004).
She is the first women's cross country performer to pick up Atlantic 10 All-Conference honors since Kristin Cisowski did in 2001 with a third-place finish.
Her time is one of the top performances for a UMass runner at the Belmont Plateau Course in Philadelphia. Derosa's 18:21.1 mark is just under three seconds faster than Cisowski's A-10 Championship run in 1998 and 19.6 seconds faster than Nicole Way's third-place effort in 1999.
This is Derosa's third weekly honor of her career as she was twice named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week during her freshman cross country season.
She will be honored on Wednesday afternoon at the UMass Sports Luncheon which runs from Noon to 1 p.m. with a full salad-to-dessert meal for just $7.00. Call 413-545-4290 to join. This week's luncheon will be held in Room 1009 of the Campus Center and speakers include Don Brown (Head Coach, Football), Catherine Gariepy (Women's Crew Team Member), and Marnie Dacko (Head Coach, Women's Basketball).