Cross Country Contends with Tough Regional Competition at Pop Crowell

Wenham, MA-- The Lasell College women's cross country team faced some top New England competition on Saturday  at the Pop Crowell Invitational hosted by Gordon College.  The Lasers finished 17th in a pool of 26 teams which included Division III nationally ranked Wellesley College, ranked 15th in the latest USTFCCCA/NCAA Coaches Poll. 

Tying for first place in the meet was Southern New Hampshire University and Salve Regina University, each with 90 points.  Wellesley placed third (119 points), while also securing the top individual performance, earned by Leah Clement in 18:47.  Amongst all Great Northeast Athletic Conference competitors, Emerson finished first with 366 points in 11th place, Johnson & Wales scored 372 points in 12th place and Emmanuel came away with 448 points in 15th place.  Lasell finished with 488 points in 17th, with Mount Ida (20th) and Suffolk (23rd) rounding out the GNAC team scores.

Lasell's junior captain Meghan Missett (Lowell, MA) had an extraordinary day at Gordon, running the 5K in a personal career best 20 minutes and 45 seconds.  This personal best knocked 27 seconds off her previous best, and marks the first time the junior runner has been under 21 minutes. Missett was the top performer for Lasell, ranking in 48th place overall.

Following Missett in order was freshman Solange Carpenter (Gorham, ME), Amanda Driscoll (Roslindale, MA), and Christina Annicelli (North Easton, MA).  Carpenter dropped exactly a minute off her prior individual-record, finishing Pop Crowell in 22:25.  Driscoll concluded the course just 12 seconds later, at 22:37, removing 14 seconds from her personal-record, and Annicelli ended just 12 seconds behind Driscoll, at 22:49.

First year runner Alexandra Smith (North  Easton, MA) also had a spectacular showing, carving off 2:11 from her season best, ending at 22:45.  Nora Ulias and Alaina Eldredge (Sandford, ME) also performed well for the Lasers.  Ulias finished her first collegiate race in 28:05 while Eldredge took 43 seconds off her prior season best, finishing at 28:06. 

The Lasers will compete next week at St. Joseph's College of Maine's Runnin' Monks Invitational on Saturday, October 6th.