Women's cross country takes seventh place at NESCACs
November 1, 2008

Eleven teams were off and running at the start of the women's race on a spectacular day at the NESCAC Cross Country Championships. (Photos by Tom Leonard '78)
Chrloe Bourne '11 continued her breakout season by crossing the finish line first for the Bobcats. Not far behind her is teammate Liz Rowley '11.
NEW GLOUCESTER, Maine -- The Bates College women's cross country team took a balanced approach toward taking seventh place Saturday at the NESCAC Cross Country Championships, hosted by Bates at Pineland Farms.

With 156 points, Bates was 64 points better than last year's NESCAC finish, in which the Bobcats also came in seventh. This year the Bobcats were closer to third place (Colby, with 125 points) than they were to eighth-place Wesleyan (219).

The top five Bobcats all finished between 25th and 38th place out of 117 runners in the race. Sophomore Chloe Bourne (Litchfield, Conn.) led the way in 27th place, covering the 6-kilometer course in 23:35. She was followed closely by sophomore Liz Rowley (Evanston, Ill.) in 30th in 23:38, sophomore Alexandria Alberto (Concord, Mass.) in 33rd (23:41), junior Esther Kendall (Ridgeway, Ontario) in 42nd, junior Abby Samuelson (Freeport, Maine) in 44th, senior Allie Goldstein (Needham, Mass.) in 57th and junior Katie Bash (Wallingford, Pa.) in 79th.

The women's team title was shared by Middlebury and Williams, both with 48 points, as both the Panthers and Ephs placed their top five runners among the race's top 15 individual finishers. Colby was third with 125 points, followed by Tufts (139), defending champion Amherst (143), Bowdoin (148), Bates (156), Wesleyan (219), Connecticut College (258), Hamilton (259) and Trinity (292). Amherst's Elise Tropiano (Plainview, N.Y.) took the individual title, covering the women's 6K course in 21:49 -- also a course record, as the race was the first on the Pineland women's 6K course. Stephanie McNamara (North Attleborough, Mass.) of Tufts finished second in 22:17, followed by Middlebury's Alexandra Krieg (Wellesley, Mass.) in 22:25.

Bates will compete next Saturday at the ECAC Championships, held at Colt State Park in Bristol, R.I.

Complete women's results

Women's Team Scores
T-1. Middlebury    48
T-1. Williams    48
3. Colby    125
4. Tufts    139
5. Amherst    143
6. Bowdoin    148
7. Bates    156
8. Wesleyan    219
9. Conn. Coll.    258
10. Hamilton    259
11. Trinity    292