Posted: Nov 11, 2017

Cross Country Caps Season With 15th Place Performance At NCAA Regional

Ava Shipman was one of five Wellesley first years running in Saturday's NCAA Regional Championship (Frank Poulin).

GORHAM, Maine – Sophomore Taylor Mahlandt (Ephrata, Pa.) finished in 39th place to lead Wellesley College cross country to a 15th place performance at the 2017 NCAA Division III Northeast Regional, hosted by the University of Southern Maine at Gorham Country Club.

Wellesley totaled a team score of 562, finishing one spot ahead of Seven Sisters and NEWMAC rival Smith College (547) in 16th place and behind 14th place Connecticut College (439).

First place MIT (58) and runner-up Tufts (92) earned the region's automatic bids to the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship. Williams (106), Middlebury (113), and Bates (150) rounded out the top-five and will look to secure at-large bids when the field is announced on Sunday.

Making her first NCAA regional appearance, Mahlandt completed the 6000-meter course in 22:21.4. Senior Isabella King (Cincinnati, Ohio) also grabbed a spot in the top-60, finishing in 22:39.1 to take 59th place in her only regional appearance.

Five Wellesley first years rounded out Wellesley's squad on Saturday. Flora Naylor (San Antonio, Texas) crossed the line in 23:36.4 to take 116th in her first NCAA regional, while April Chu (Fremont, Calif.) was 126th (23:42.8) and Grace Cowles (Yarmouth, Maine) was 131st (23:44.9). Ava Shipman (Makawao, Hawaii) and Samara Shaz (New York, N.Y.) added times of 24:00.3 (156th) and 24:05.7 (163rd), respectively, for the Blue.

Saturday's race concludes the 2017 cross country season, the fifth under the guidance of head coach Phil Jennings, for Wellesley College.