Posted: Oct 29, 2017

Blue XC Takes Fourth At NEWMACs; King, Mahlandt Earn All-Conference Honors

Isabella King and Taylor Mahlandt each earned NEWMAC All-Conference honors while leading Wellesley to a fourth place finish at the 2017 NEWMAC Cross Country Championships (Frank Poulin).

BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Isabella King (Cincinnati, Ohio) and sophomore Taylor Mahlandt (Ephrata, Pa.) each earned New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) All-Conference honors while leading Wellesley College cross country to a fourth place finish at the 2017 NEWMAC Cross Country Championships on Sunday at Franklin Park.

King was Wellesley's top-finisher, grabbing a spot in the top-ten with a time of 19:09 to earn a spot on the All-Conference team for the first time in her career. Mahlandt finished in 15th, just six seconds back of her teammate (19:15) and was also awarded with NEWMAC All-Conference honors for the first time.

Coast Guard first year Kaitlyn Mooney (Manahawkin, N.J.) claimed NEWMAC All-Conference, Athlete of the Year, and Rookie of the Year honors with a first-place time of 17:52. MIT (20 points) placed seven runners in the top-ten to earn the team title, while WPI (62) finished second, Coast Guard (110) third and the Blue (118) fourth. Smith (145) rounded out the top-five.

First years Ava Shipman (Makawao, Hawaii), Grace Cowles (Yarmouth, Maine), and Samara Shaz (New York, N.Y.) rounded out Wellesley's top-five, while classmates Flora Naylor (San Antonio, Texas) and Hannah Russo (Summit, N.J.) finished in the top-seven. Shipman was 31st overall (20:01), while Cowles took 40th (20:23) and Shaz was 42nd (20:24). Naylor grabbed 51st place (20:31) and Russo was 56th (20:41).

Senior Taylor Fortnam (Portola Valley, Calif.) led the next pack of Wellesley runners, as four Blue finishers place between 60th and 64th place. Fortnam was 60th (20:44), while sophomore Fiona Harrigian (San Marino, Calif.) took 61st (20:45), first year April Chu (Fremont, Calif.) was 63rd (20:46) and sophomore Sophie Dolan (Austin, Texas) was 64th (20:50). Senior Clare Salerno (Johnson, Vt.) also added a 70th place (21:13) finish for the Blue.

Rounding out Wellesley's participants in Sunday' race, first year Carolyn Price (Koloa, Hawaii) finished 86th (21:43), first year Veda Donthireddy (Princeton Junction, N.J.) was 91st (21:55) and classmate Taylor Balfour (Rockville, Md.) was 96th (21:59). Sophomore Keiko Hilmo (Saint Paul, Minn.) and first year Blythe Logan (New York, N.Y.) added times of 22:06 (103rd) and 23:13 (125th), respectively.

Wellesley will head to the 2017 NCAA DIII Northeast Regional in the team's next race on Saturday, November 11, at the University of Southern Maine.