U of I Graduates Dominate Women's Wheelchair Division at New York Marathon

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NEW YORK CITY (WCIA) — The University of Illinois has more reasons to celebrate as it secures both the winner and runner-up spots in the women’s wheelchair division of the New York Marathon.

Among the 59,000 athletes navigating New York City’s five boroughs on Sunday were alumni Susannah Scaroni and Tatyanna McFadden. In the women’s wheelchair race, which featured 21 competitors, Scaroni led the pack, finishing with a time of 1:42:10, leaving 20 racers in her wake.

McFadden claimed the second spot, completing the race through Central Park with a time of 1:47:54, narrowly beating Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner by just two seconds.

Meanwhile, Obiri shattered the women’s NYC Marathon course record, and Kipruto clinched victory in the men’s race by the slimmest of margins.

This victory marks Scaroni’s second consecutive win in New York and her third in the past four years. Her triumphs extend across the World Marathon Majors, a prestigious series for marathon and wheelchair athletes. This year, she has already claimed victories in Chicago and Boston, completing a sweep of the U.S. marathon majors. Additionally, she won the Sydney Marathon and secured second place in both the Tokyo and London Marathons, trailing behind Debrunner in those races.

McFadden’s second-place finish is her best performance in New York since 2021, when she also took runner-up. She has won the New York Marathon five times, achieving four consecutive victories from 2012 to 2016, and consistently placing second from 2017 to 2021. The marathon was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.