King Wins Individual Title; Wellesley XC Takes Second At Seven Sisters

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Senior Isabella King (Cincinnati, Ohio) ran to a time of 23:56.39 to win the individual championship and lead Wellesley College cross country to a runner-up team finish at the 2017 Seven Sisters Championship at Smith College.

King was followed by individual runner-up Taylor Mahlandt (Ephrata, Pa.), as the Wellesley sophomore finished second in 24:04.13. Classmate Ava Shipman (Makawao, Hawaii) finished in 24:16.23 to take fifth and give the Blue three runners in the top-five, but this year's Seven Sisters title went to Vassar College, as the Brewers finished with five runners in the top-11 to win the event for the first time since 2013. This year's championship was the fourth in program history for the Brewers.

King is the seventh Wellesley student-athlete to win the Seven Sisters individual title and the first since Priyanka Fouda won the event in 2015. She is also the second student-athlete with the last name of 'King' to win the title, as Wellesley's Jessica King won the event in 1994.

First years Samara Shaz (New York, N.Y.) and Hannah Russo (Summit, N.J.) rounded out Wellesley's top five in 27th (25.22.07) and 28th (25:28.14), while first year April Chu (Fremont, Calif.) and sophomore Sophie Dolan (Austin, Texas) took 30th and 31st, finishing the course in 25:29.15 and 25:34.48, respectively.

First year Grace Cowles (Yarmouth, Maine) finished just after Chu and Dolan, taking 33rd in 25:40.71. Senior Clare Salerno (Johnson, Vt.) added a 41st place finish (26:11.09), while classmate Taylor Fortnam (Portola Valley, Calif.) was 46th in 25:31.65 and junior Catherine Xie (Newton, Mass.) was 60th in 27:12.76.

Also in action for the Blue on Saturday at the Seven Sisters Championship, Carolyn Price (Koloa, Hawaii) was 63rd (27:27.53), Flora Naylor (San Antonio, Texas) was 70th (27:53.37), Veda Donthireddy (Princeton Junction, N.J.) took 74th (28:01.71), Blythe Logan (New York, N.Y.) was 76th (28:06.19), and Taylor Balfour (Rockville, Md.) finished 85th (28:57.28). 

Wellesley will now focus on the 2017 New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships on Sunday, October 29, at Franklin Park.

All-Seven Sisters Team

First Team
Isabella King, Wellesley
Taylor Mahlandt, Wellesley
Sarah Bohan, Simmons
Elise Matera, Vassar
Ava Shipman, Wellesley
Kate Edwards, Bryn Mawr
Karena Garcia

Second Team
Katie Voegtlin, Vassar
Acadia Dinardo, Vassar
Savannah Wiman, Vassar
Erin Clark, Vassar
Clara Brill-Carlat
Christiana Prater-Lee, Vassar
Megan Horn, Vassar