Blue XC Ranks Seventh Among D3 Competition at Open New Englands

BOSTON, Mass. – The Wellesley College cross country team placed seventh among Division III teams and 31st overall at the 2013 New England Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

The 5K event, hosted at Franklin Park in Boston, featured 43 Division I, II and III colleges and universities from the six New England states.

All five of Wellesley scoring runners finished within 25 places of each other. Sophomore Alessandra Gavin led the way, placing 166th in a time of 19:43. Junior Alexandra Dunn was right behind Gavin as the Blue's next finisher, taking 167th in 19:45.

Junior Nicole Chui was next across the line for the Blue, running the race in 19:47. Rounding out the scoring runners, first-year Alice Zhou ranked 176th in 19:51, while classmate Sara Vannah finished 190th in 20:03.

Also competing in the varsity race were sophomore Sharon Ng and first-year Sonja Cwik. Ng ranked 216th in a time of 20:28, while Cwik ranked 220th, finishing in 20:32. A total of 283 runners competed in the varsity event.

In the sub-varsity field, sophomore Laura Brindley led the way for the Blue recorded a 66th place finish (20:03) out of 299 competitors.  First-year Meg Kelly was next for the Blue in 78th (20:14), while senior Doris Berman finished 102nd (20:32).

Also competing in the sub-varsity event for Wellesley were first-year Kelsey Cathcart and seniors Sarah Roundy and Ali Grzywna. Cathcart placed 135th in 20:56, Roundy ranked 152nd in 21:06, and Grzywna was 163rd in 21:14.

Wellesley cross country returns to action next Saturday at Smith College. The Blue will look to defend their title at the 2013 Seven Sisters Championships.