NEW ORLEANS—Sophomore Lydia Olivere (Wilmington, Del.) was named the Mid-Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year in an announcement made by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Tuesday morning.  The award is voted on by the head coaches of the schools in the Mid-Atlantic Region and is the first career regional award for Olivere. 
 
The standout second-year runner has won individual titles at both the BIG EAST Championships and the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional this month.  It is the sixth time since 2000 and the first time since 2011 that a Villanova athlete has achieved the double in the same year.  Olivere has won three of her four starts overall, with a first place finish at the season-opening Main Line Invitational also on her resume.
 
Neither of Olivere's individual titles were among her stated goals at the beginning of the season, as her focus was on helping lead the team back to the NCAA Championships.  With their second place finish at the Mid-Atlantic Regional meet last week, the Wildcats earned an automatic bid to the national meet for the fifth straight year and the 11^th time in the last 12 seasons.
 
"That was my singular goal for the season," Olivere said.  "I think it just really goes to show that if you manifest something and really think about it, you can achieve it.  We remained positive and found wins in every race [during the season], and as we got in better shape and got more fit it became more realistic."
 
Olivere was a first team All-BIG EAST performer and a Mid-Atlantic All-Region selection for the second straight year.  At the conference meet on November 2, she finished strong over the second half of the race and crossed the finish line with a 10-second margin of victory.  She was at or near the front of the pack from the beginning of the race at regionals last week, and once again tallied a 10-second winning margin.  Her time of 20:02.0 at the regional meet was also a personal best for a 6,000 meter cross country course and put Olivere into 10^th place on the Wildcats all-time performance list at the distance.
 
Villanova has now produced the individual Mid-Atlantic champion in three straight years and 10 of the past 14 seasons.  It is also the 24^th time in the latest 34 years going back to the old District II championships that the Wildcats have had the region's individual champion.  The current regional format began in 2000 and this is the 12^th time in 20 seasons that Villanova came in first or second as a team at the Mid-Atlantic Regional.
 
Olivere's goal of leading the Wildcats to the national championships will come to fruition this Saturday morning when Villanova competes at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.  The women's race goes off at 11:15 a.m. on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross  Country Course.

 
LYDIA OLIVERE CAREER CROSS COUNTRY AWARDS
 
USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year
2019
 
USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic All-Region
2018, 2019
 
BIG EAST Individual Champion
2019
 
ALL-BIG EAST First Team
2018, 2019