BRUNSWICK, ME – The Saint Joseph's College women's cross country team placed seventh with 190 points in the Bowdoin College Invitational on Saturday. Junior Heather Eaton (Lincolnville, Maine) led the Monks with a 24:56 time and placed 32nd out of 124 runners in the event.
With seven of the top eight finishers, including individual champion Olivia Belatrani, Tufts University cruised to top-team honors with 19 points, well ahead of runner-up Bowdoin, which tallied 52 points in the team's annually-hosted 6K race. Bates College (105 points), Colby-Sawyer College (134) and Husson University (141) rounded out the top five competing institutions in the event.
Individually, Beltrani earned the title with a 22:40 performance, five seconds faster than runner-up Lucy Skinner of Bowdoin College. The following three finishers all adorned Jumbos' jerseys, as Lauren Creath (22:46), Abby Barker (22:49) and Audrey Gould (22:57) placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
For the Monks, sophomore Riley Jones (Winslow, Maine) shaved considerable time off her previous 6K best and finished right behind Eaton with a 24:58 effort. Freshman Marie Harrington (Limerick, Maine) finished 62nd (26:39), first-year Mikaela Rowell (Derry, N.H.) placed 100th (29:25), junior Victoria Ramos (North Scituate, R.I.) was 102nd (29:43), junior Audrey Curry (Perry, Maine) finished 110th (30:39), rookie Cynthia Andrews (Seal Harbor, Maine) placed 111th (30:40), and Gabby Lodge (Westbrook, Maine) was 123rd (33:54).
The Monks will race again next Saturday when the team makes an appearance in the Keene State College Invitational.
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
