St. Peter, Minn. – From the moment she stepped back onto campus in August, it was clear Caitlin Fermoyle (Jr., Mendota Heights, Minn.) was ready to go. As a sophomore on a team with strong upper-class leadership, she surprised many at the MIAC Championships by taking fifth place overall, helping the Gusties to their second title in program history. Fast-forward to the present day where Fermoyle is no longer a sleeper but a battled-tested veteran who is a leader on a team with its sight set on a second straight MIAC title. Through the opening month of the school year, she proved to be just that – a leader. For her efforts, Caitlin Fermoyle has been named the Gustavus Female Student-Athlete-of-the-Month for September.
“Caitlin is just an outstanding leader,” said Head Coach Dale Bahr. “She exemplifies the possible outcome of work hard, focus, and determination. When Caitlin has a goal in mind, nothing stops her form achieving it.”
After kicking off the year with a second place finish (19:39) at the Gustavus Alumni Meet, Fermoyle helped the Gusties to a second place finish with 50 points at the Saint John’s Invitational. At the site where she took the top spot on the podium in 2012, Caitlin turned in a runner-up performance with a time of 23:35 against a field of more than 100 runners. She led all NCAA Division IIII runners at the meet, as Breanna Colbenson of UM-Duluth was the only one able to beat out the junior.
Following her outing in Collegeville, Fermoyle garnered MIAC Women’s Cross Country Athlete-of-the-Week honors for the second time in her career. She was one of just two runners to break the 24-minute mark at what was the team’s first 6k meet of the season.
To cap the month, Fermoyle ran with the leaders at the 15-team, 251-participant St. Olaf Invitational held in Northfield on Sept. 21. The Gusties finished sixth overall with a team score of 158 at the meet. Fermoyle was one of two Gustavus runners – the other being Rebecca Hare (Jr., Albany, Minn.) who led the team in 11th (23:05.1) – to crack the top 15. She crossed the finish line in 14th in a season-best 23:19.5, which was 15 seconds faster than her previous 6k race. Amongst Division III runners in Northfield, the Fermoyle finished seventh.
“She is a very patient runner and her maturity is paying off,” commented Bahr. “In each of our races so far this year, someone has taken it out very fast. Caitlin has not been alarmed by it, in fact, she remains calm and collected; running her own pace. She finds herself steadily moving up in the field after the first mile and finishing strong.”
The Gustavus cross country teams will be in action this weekend at the Blugold Invitational held Friday in Colfax, Wis. The women’s squad will go up against a field comprised of 26 teams, which includes seven that rank inside the top 10 in the Central Region. The women’s race will begin at 4:00 p.m., while the men’s race will start after at 5:00 p.m.
“Caitlin’s training has been consistent and she has looked very powerful the last couple weeks,” continued Bahr about Fermoyle’s season progression. “Moving forward, we look to for Caitlin to be in the top 10 at conference, earn All-Region honors, and continue to lead this team.”