Mariah McPhee '17 joins the coaching staff as she completes requirements for a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education at Eastern.
A Bristol native, McPhee was one of the program's premier middle distance and distance runners in a four-year cross country and track & field career. A senior captain in both sports, McPhee earned All-Little East Conference honors in cross country as a senior in the fall of 2016 with a tenth-place finish and All-New England Alliance recognition as a sophomore in the fall of 2014 with a 19th-place finish when she led all Eastern runners at the finish line in every race that season. As a senior in the spring of 2017, McPhee ran anchor on the 4x800 meter relay which set a program record of 9:54.89 at the New England Division III Championships.
McPhee, who competed in all possible 26 career meets in cross country, was the cross country team's top runner as a sophomore, when she led all of her teammates at the finish line after the first race of the year. In addition to her conference finish that year, McPhee won the Eastern Invitational, was fourth among 210 competitors at Western New England University, sixth in a field of 70 at the Trinity College Bantam Invitational, and 131st among 387 (top 34 percent) at the New England Regional Championships. As a senior, she topped all Eastern runners in five of six races, including 120th among 406 (top 30 percent) in the final race of her cross country career at the New England Regional Championships at Stanley Park at Westfield, MA.
Indoors and outdoors, McPhee was a member of 4x800 meter relay teams which ran to All-Little East or New England Alliance honors eight times. She was a freshman member of the 800 relay which broke the program outdoor record by winning the Little East and New England Alliance championships, then lowered it to 10:00.87 by running to All-New England honors with a seventh-place finish at the New England Division III Championships the following weekend. That relay placed second in the LEC scoring in each of her final three seasons outdoors.
In addition to the relay, McPhee ran the 800 and 1,500 outdoors and mile indoors. At the time of graduation, McPhee had run the fourth-fastest mile (5:30.78) and fourth-fastest 1,500 (5:02.15) and seventh-fastest 800 (2:29.56) in program history.
McPhee was a five-time member of the Little East Academic Honor Roll and qualified for an E-Club Scholar-Athlete Award in both years of eligibility, earning an "Outstanding" award (minimum 3.50 cumulative GPA) as a senior. She holds a B.A. Degree in English.
