University of Illinois Alumni Dominate: Secure Top Positions in Women's Wheelchair Division at New York Marathon

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NEW YORK CITY (WCIA) — The University of Illinois proudly adds another victory to its record as its alumni shine at the New York Marathon, triumphing not just with the winner but also securing the runner-up position.

Among the 59,000 participants who either ran or maneuvered their wheelchairs through New York City’s five boroughs on Sunday, Susannah Scaroni and Tatyanna McFadden stood out. Competing in the women’s wheelchair division, Scaroni outpaced 20 opponents to clinch victory with an impressive time of 1:42:10.

Hot on her wheels, McFadden captured second place, finishing in Central Park with a time of 1:47:54, narrowly beating Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner by a mere two seconds.

For Scaroni, this achievement marks her second consecutive New York Marathon win and third in the past four years. Her performance underscores a year of remarkable success in the World Marathon Majors, a series that highlights the best marathon runners and wheelchair athletes globally. Scaroni dominated earlier this year by winning both the Chicago and Boston marathons, completing a sweep of the U.S. marathon majors. She also triumphed at the Sydney Marathon and secured second place finishes at the Tokyo and London marathons, trailing Debrunner in both races.

For McFadden, her runner-up finish on Sunday is her best finish in New York since 2021, when she also finished runner-up. She’s won the New York Marathon five times, including four straight from 2012 to 2016, and finished runner-up every year from 2017 to 2021, with no marathon in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Earlier this year, McFadden finished 5th in the Boston and London Marathons, 4th in the Berlin Marathon and 3rd in the Chicago Marathon.

Scaroni and McFadden both participated in wheelchair sports at the University of Illinois and went on to race in professional wheelchair races. In addition to their multiple marathon wins, both won gold medals at the Paralympic Games.