Tight Pack Puts Blue Cross Country in Third at Keene State

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley had seven finishers in the top-25, as the Blue cross country team took third place at the 12-team Keene State Invitational on Saturday. The 5K course featured 152 total runners.

Wellesley recorded a team score of 68, behind only host Brandeis (52) and host Keene State (59). The Blue's scoring runners all finished in the top-19 at the event.

Individually, first-year Mary Keenan paced Wellesley with a seventh place finish, while sophomore Priyanka Fouda finished ninth overall. Keenan recorded a time of 19:32, while Fouda was just three seconds behind her, finishing in 19:35. 

Sophomore Alessandra Gavin and junior Alexandra Dunn were next across the line for the Blue, finishing in 16th and 17th place respectively. Gavin recorded a 19:49, while Dunn finished in 19:50. First-year Alice Zhou wrapped up the scorers for Wellesley, taking 19th place in 19:51.

Rounding out the top-25 finishers for the Blue were first-years Sonja Cwik and Meg Kelly. Cwik placed 21st overall with a 19:56, while Kelly finished 25th with a 20:10.

Elsewhere, sophomores Heather Smith and Laura Brindley, and first-years, Edie Sharon and Kathryn Leahy all finished in the top-40 at the event. Smith placed 27th in 20:18, Brindley ranked 31st in 20:24, Sharon finished 32nd in 20:26, and Leahy ranked 28th in 20:44.

Wellesley cross country is back in action on October 12th at the New England Intercollegiate Championships. The event is being held at Franklin Park in Boston, with the JV race beginning at 11:00am and the varsity race going off at 12:30pm.