It was a history-making day at the NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Cross Country East Regional Championships in Boston this past Saturday as Philadelphia University sophomore runner Sarah Simonetti of Perkasie, Pa., finished fifth overall in the women’s 6K in 22:52 to become the first PhilaU cross country student-athlete to ever advance to the NCAA National Championships, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 21 at Southern Indiana University.

Simonetti also clinched a spot on the NCAA East All-Regional Team for the second year in a row, which goes to the top 15 runners for both the men and women.

Simonetti paced the women’s team to a fifth-overall team finish, as fellow sophomore Anjelica DiNucci of Baltimore took 21st with a time of 23:59.

On the men’s side, PhilaU took eighth overall as senior Andrew Piotrowski of Warminster, Pa., led the squad taking 30th place in 33:30, with the next closest Ram being senior Shawn D’Andrea Blackwood, N.J., who took 34th in 33:38.

For more, go to http://www.philaurams.com/.