Sports Home • Today at BU • BU Home • Alumni • Admissions • Academics

Kramer to Race At NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships

BLOOMSBURG-When Bloomsburg University cross country runner Danielle Kramer (Coal Twp/Shamokin) decided to come to Bloomsburg she had no real thoughts about joining the cross country team. It was only a call from head coach Karen Brandt that convinced her to change her mind.

Both coach and runner are now glad she did!

Danielle Kramer

Kramer, who finished second at the NCAA East Regional championships on Nov. 9th, will travel to Ashland University in Ohio for the NCAA Division II national cross country championships on Nov. 23rd with a chance to earn All-American honors. She is the first Bloomsburg runner since Tina Wikoski in 1994 to qualify for the national championship race. The top 15 receive plaques from the NCAA while the top 25 Americans earn All-American certificates from the United States Track and Field Coaches Association, which over sees cross country. 

“Coach Brandt called me and asked if I had thought about coming out for track and cross country,” Kramer said. “At first I wasn't sure I wanted to, but now I am glad I chose to run.”

Kramer, who also qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships in track and field in the spring, had to change her race strategy in order to qualify for the national championships.

“At (NCAA) regionals I followed the plan from my coaches and it worked,” said Kramer. “I started slowly and had more energy left at the end of the hilly course. “

“I never expected that I would qualify for the NCAA championships after the race I ran at the PSAC championships the week before,” said Kramer, who finished ninth at the PSAC meet. “It (NCAAs) was something I wanted, but didn't know I would be able to achieve.”

Head coach Karen Brandt knew that Kramer had what it takes to reach the national meet.

“Danielle made the adjustments in her race strategy that we asked of her and it worked,” said the fourth-year head coach. “I know at the NCAA meet she has an excellent chance of earning All-American honors if she runs with the same confidence she did at the regional race. She is a very strong runner and when she puts together the physical part of running with the mental part she is tough to beat.”

One thing that may hamper Kramer in her goal of being an All-American is a case of Achilles tendonitis. It has been bothering her off and on throughout the season and flared up again right before the regional meet.

“I put the injury out of my mind and kept telling myself that it doesn't hurt,” said Kramer. “But, I have had to take last week off from training and that bothered me than the injury. Riding a stationary bike is not one of my favorite things.”

“Danielle's superb training base has helped her get around this injury,” Brandt said. “She has been getting excellent care from our athletic trainers and working on the bike. This time off should not hurt or erode what kind of shape she is in.”

Kramer opened the 2002 season with a bang winning the Kutztown Invitational in a time of 23:43 (to win by nine seconds) then followed that up with a 12th place finish at the Penn State Spiked Shoe Invitational. Kramer was the first D-II runner across the line at the predominantly D-I event that featured 237 runners at State College. She covered the 6,000-meter course in 22:43. For her efforts those two weeks she earned the PSAC Runner of the Week Award.

She earned her second Runner of the Week Award from the PSAC in October when she finished higher than any other PSAC runner at the 5k DeSales Invitational taking seventh out of 278 runners in a time of 19:30.

Kramer's love of running comes from her brother Steve, who is the cross country coach at Exeter High School. He got her started in the eighth grade and Kramer was instantly hooked.

“I fell in love with the sport,” Kramer added. “It was almost an addiction for me. I never expected then to have this much success, but I'm glad it happened. It is a lot fun.”

Kramer will have plenty of fan support when she steps on the course at Ashland University.

“My family will be all be there,” said Kramer. “They are very excited and wouldn't miss this for the world.”

While Danielle's family is thrilled, so is her coach.

“It is extremely exciting to be able to coach someone of Danielle's caliber,” said Brandt, who is assisted by her husband Jim. “To know that you played a role in helping someone develop to their full potential is gratifying. We can't wait for race day.”