Blue Cross Country Finishes Fifth at NCAA Regional

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Junior Priyanka Fouda finished in the top-ten, and senior Taylor Bickford and junior Mary Keenan both finished in the top 35, as Wellesley College cross country ran to a fifth place finish at the NCAA Division III Regional hosted by Williams College at Mount Greylock Regional High School.

Fouda, Bickford and Keenan all earned all-region recognition by virtue of their top-35 finishes of the 6k course on a cold and sunny afternoon in Williamstown. 

Fouda's top-ten time was the best of the day for Wellesley, as the junior came in at 22:14.1. She was followed by Bickford, as the Wellesly senior placed 28th overall with a time of 22:43.2. Keenan then crossed the finish with a time of 22:58.5, good enough for 35th overall. 

Senior Nicole Chui and and sophomore Alice Zhou rounded out the top-five scoring runners for the Blue. Chui finished with a time of 23:16.6, taking 52nd overall. Zhowu finished 55th with a time of 23:24.0. 

Sophomores Sonja Cwik and Edie Sharon also competed at the regional, finishing in 91st and 104th, respectively. Cwik registered a time of 24:04.5, while Sharon was clocked at 24:18.9.

MIT's Sarah Quinn finished with the top time of 21:39.9, helping the Engineers to take the event with an overall score of 40 points. MIT was followed by Middlebury in second, with 65 points, Williams in third with 95 points, Amherst in fourth with 127 points, the Blue in fifth with 280 points and Tufts in sixth with 207 points. 

As the top two finishers, both MIT and Middlebury have automatically qualified for the NCAA National Championship, while Williams, Amherst, Wellesley and Tufts may qualify with an at-large bid, under the discretion of the USTFCCCA.