Head coach Justina Cassavell enters her ninth year as head coach of both the cross-country and track & field programs at Ramapo College. She took over the reins in 2014 after serving as the assistant coach for cross-country during the 2013 season.
Ramapo continues to be a contender on the national scene in both cross country and track & field. During the 2021 outdoor track and field season the Roadrunners hosted the NJAC Championships. Cheickna Traore earned NJAC Men's Outdoor Track & Field Rookie of the Year, NJAC First Team All-Conference & NJAC Champion (400m dash), NJAC Second Team All-Conference (200m dash). Chris Andersen earned two NJAC Titles in both the 800m and 1500m races along with NJAC First Team All-Conference honors in both events. Steven Fiumefreddo earned NJAC Champion in the 5k race and NJAC First Team All-Conference while Max Dubac was named NJAC Second Team All-Conference in the 400m hurdles. The 4x400-meter relay team made up of, Andersen, Dubac, Kenyon Fenderson and Traore earned NJAC Honorable Mention All-Conference after finishing 3rd overall at the conference championships. On the women’s side, Kristina Langan won the pole vault earning her second consecutive NJAC Title and NJAC First Team All-Conference. Lindsay McNeill was named NJAC Second Team All-Conference in the 5k while Judankicka Julceus earned NJAC Honorable Mention All-Conference in the 100m dash. Delilah Cruz earned NJAC Honorable Mention All-Conference in the 100m hurdles and Olivia Hutnik was tabbed NJAC Honorable Mention All-Conference in the javelin. Langan (pole vault), Fiumefreddo (1500m & 5k), Andersen (800m) and Traore (200m & 400m) were all tabbed NCAA Division III Outdoor All-Atlantic Region. Langan advanced to the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships where she earned All-American honors with a 6th place finish in the pole vault.
The 2019 Men’s Cross Country team won the NJAC Cross Country Championship for the first time in school history as they combined efforts with 36 points. At the NCAA Atlantic Region Championships, they finished 6th overall the highest finish since the 2017 season. Chris Andersen and Jason Rodriguez earned All-Region honors. The 2019 women’s squad placed 2nd at the NJAC Championships - the highest placing during coach Cassevell’s tenure. Jen Polo finished 3rd place overall while Safiya Ratliff finished in 5th place. Safiya was named NJAC Women’s Cross Country Rookie of the Year. The Lady Roadrunner placed 12th at the NCAA Atlantic Region Championships, the highest finish in school history. Ratfliff and Polo earned All-Region honors.
Jeremy Hernandez became the 2018 NCAA Indoor Champion in the men’s mile with a national record time of 3.59.01. He is the first NCAA Division III student-athlete to break a four-minute mile in the history of the sport. Under coach Cassavell, 14 individuals have qualified for the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships while she’s mentored nine to be a NCAA All-American. Eight individual women have qualified for the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships while four earned NCAA All-American honors. Amber Edwards became the 2018 NCAA Indoor National Champion in the triple jump with a mark of 12.52-meters (41’ 1.00”).
Entering the 2020-2021 season, the Roadrunners have earned 46 NJAC Track & Field Individual Champions while four men’s and women’s track & field teams have been named to the NCAA Division III All-Academic Team.
Cassavell was named the 2015 NJAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year while 35 Roadrunners were named NJAC Cross Country All-Conference. Four individuals qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships while ten Roadrunners have been named NCAA All-Region. Hernandez once again places his name in the Roadrunner record books with back-to-back 2015-2016 NJAC crowns in the men’s cross country championship. Seven men’s and women’s cross country teams earned NCAA All-Academic Team.
Cassavell joined the Roadrunner coaching staff in 2013 after a highly successful coaching career in the high school ranks. She was the Head Coach of the Girls Cross Country/Track & Field Team at Voorhees High School from 1997 to 2012. She led the Voorhees Girls to three New Jersey State Meet of Champions Titles in 2007, 2008, and 2012, while they earned nine New Jersey State Group Championship Titles, and 13 New Jersey Sectional Championship Titles. In her 16 years at the helm, Cassavell won nine Skyland Conference Championship Titles, while the team qualified for the Meet of Champions every season, producing 14 top ten finishers, nine top five finishers, and six top three finishers. She led the team to an NXN Northeast Championship in 2010, while earning second place at the same championship in both 2007 and 2012. The Vikings also qualified three times for the Nike Team Nationals in 2007, 2010, and 2012, placing 13th overall in '07.
Besides her coaching the Voorhees Girls, Cassavell started a non-profit track and field club, Hunterdon Hawks Youth Track & Field Club, where she serves as President. She also serves as the camp director for Voorhees Summer Track and Field Camp.
She is a 1992 graduate of Rutgers University where she earned a degree in economics. She was a member of the Scarlet Knight cross country and track and field teams for four years. Cassavell was a NCAA provisional qualifier in 1991 for indoor track and field in the 800-meter run, with a time of 2:09.86. She received track and field All-East honors in 1989, 1990, and 1991, while earning a championship crown at the indoor Metropolitan Championships in the 800-meter in '91. She was named Rutgers Most Improved Runner in track and field in 1990.
Cassavell and her husband, Robert have four children, Claudia, Nicole, Zoey and Robby.
2021-2022 Season
