Cross Country Places Three in the Top-10 to Win Roy Griak Invitational
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Wellesley College cross country placed three runners in the top-ten, led by a runner-up performance from junior Mary Keenan (Boerne, Texas), to win the team championship at the Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday at the University of Minnesota's Les Blostad Golf Course.
In all, the Blue placed five in the top-20, and seven in the top-30, recording 50 points to best second place St. Olaf (51). St. Thomas (Minn.) followed in third place (67), while Macalester (120) and Concordia-Moorhead (170) rounded out the top-five in the 17-team field. Macalester junior Kimber Meyer (Naperville, Ill.) captured the individual title with a time of 22:57.8.
Keenan, the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Runner of the Week, finished in second with a time of 23:24.8. Senior Priyanka Fouda (Wellesley, Mass.) followed with a time of 23:49.1 to capture seventh place for the Blue. First year, and Minnesota native, Mary Naas (St. Paul, Minn.) gave the Blue three in the top-ten with a ninth place time of 24:12.9
Junior Sonja Cwik (La Canada, Calif.) was the fourth Wellesley runner to cross the line, finishing with a time of 24:22.9 to take 13th place. Senior Sharon Ng sealed the Wellesley victory with a 19th place finish and a time of 24:40.2, finishing 2.7 seconds ahead of the fifth scoring runner from St. Olaf to secure the one-point win.
Wellesley seniors Carolyn Chelius (Haddonfield, N.J.) and Alessandra Gavin (Annapolis, Md.) also ran for the Blue, as both finished in the top-30 with times of 25:01.6 (24th) and 25:13.7 (29th), respectively.
Wellesley will return east for their next race, when the Blue participate in the NEICAAA All-New England Championships on Saturday, October 10, at 11:00 AM at Franklin Park in Boston, Mass.
