Upcoming Event: Men's Cross Country at Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational on October 3, 2025
Men's Cross Country
at Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational
Providence College Athletics
Men's Cross Country
Braz-Rocha, Catarina
Catarina Braz-Rocha
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- cbrazroc@providence.edu
- Phone:
- (401) 865-2402
Catarina Braz-Rocha embarks on her fifth cross country season and fifth year on the coaching staff at Providence College. On June 3, 2021, Braz-Rocha was named the Providence College Women’s Head Track Coach, as well as an assistant for both the men’s and women’s cross country programs.
During her first year on the coaching staff in 2021, Rocha helped the women’s cross country team qualify for the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2017. Rocha also has helped the women's cross country team qualify for the 2022 NCAA Championship. She was instrumental in coaching the 2022 BIG EAST Cross Country Individual Champion, Jane Buckley. In 2023 with Rocha’s support, the Friars had a record breaking first-place finish in the 4x1500-meter relay at Penn Relays.
The program had a successful 2023-2024 season, beginning with another qualification for the NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championships. Rocha assisted in coaching the DMR team (May, Flockhart, O’Neill, Fenerty) that placed sixth at the NCAA Indoor Championships. In the 2024 outdoor season, Kimberley May and Shannon Flockhart represented Providence at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 1,500 meters with a second-place finish from May and a sixth-place finish from Flockhart. Rocha has helped coach the program to eight BIG EAST Individual Champions in indoor and outdoor track and 12 All-American Honors.
The 2024-25 season was another standout year for the Friars. In the fall, the women's cross country team qualified for the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championship and placed third overall, the program's seventh top-three finish all-time and its best result since winning the national title in 2013, a team Rocha was on. Rocha was influential in coaching six BIG EAST champions throughout the season. Additionally, the women’s DMR team (Flockhart, Fenerty, O’Neill, May) finished third at the NCAA Indoor Championships after claiming the BIG EAST title for the second year in a row. At the 2025 Penn Relays, the Friars won the 4x1,500 Championship of America in a program record time of 16:59.65, the third-fastest time in collegiate history. Four Friars qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the program’s highest total since 1998. May led the way with a First Team All-America finish in the 1,500 meters (6th), while Millard (5,000 meters) and O’Neill (800 meters) were named Second Team All-Americans. Flockhart rounded out her season with All-America Honorable Mention recognition after competing in the 1,500-meter semifinals.
Rocha, a 2017 graduate, ran under Treacy during her tenure as a Friar. As a freshman, she was a scoring member of the cross-country team that won the BIG EAST and NCAA titles in 2013. Over the next four years, Rocha was a two-time, Cross-Country All-American and four-time, BIG EAST Champion. She was the Providence College Athlete of the Year in 2018 and was the BIG EAST Conference's nominee for the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. After graduation she worked as a volunteer coach with the program while she completed her Master's Degree in Counseling.
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