Trio of All-Conference Performances Propels Cross Country to 2nd at NEWMACs

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Senior Edie Sharon (Winchester, Mass.) finished in sixth place to lead Wellesley College cross country to a runner-up performance at the 2016 New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships on Saturday at Smith College. Wellesley finished as conference runner-up for the eighth consecutive year. MIT took the team title for the 10th year in-a-row.

Sharon was one of three all-conference performers for the Blue on the 5k course at the 2016 Championships, finishing sixth in 19:02. Classmates Sonja Cwik (La Canada, Calif.) and Sara Vannah (Amherst, Mass.) also earned all-conference honors, taking 10th and 17th, respectively. Cwik recorded a time of 19:16 and Vannah finished in 19:44.

MIT finished with 15 points, placing all five scoring runners in the top five. First year Megan McCandless (Livermore, Calif.) won the individual title in 18:17. Wellesley recorded 69 points in second, followed by Coast Guard (89) in third and Smith (139) in fourth. WPI (141) completed the top-five. 

Wellesley junior Taylor Fortnam (Portola Valley, Calif.) and first year Eva Paradiso (Burlington, Vt.) completed Wellesley's score on Saturday. Fortnam ran to a time of 19:53 to take 21st place, while Paradiso was 33rd in her first NEWMAC Championship race with a time of 20:33. 

Wellesley had 10 runners in the field on Saturday, with junior Clare Salerno (Johnson, Vt.) finishing 46th (20:48), sophomore Catherine Xie (Newton, Mass.) taking 75th (21:48), and first year Elizabeth Lambert (Kensington, Md.) finishing in 83rd (22:10).  First years Fiona Harrigian (San Marino, Calif.) and Sophie Dolan (Austin, Texas) also finished in 88th and 89th place, respectively, recording times of 22:20 and 22:21.

The Blue will now prepare for the 2016 NCAA DIII New England Regional Championships on Saturday, November 12, in Westfield, Mass.