Lauren Boone

Contributing Writer

On Nov. 9, the women’s cross country team traveled to Penn State to compete in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships to close out its season, where they finished 12th out of 31 teams. The Bison were led by a respectable performance from Caroline Tolli ’13.

Leading the Orange and Blue in the six-kilometer course, Tolli crossed the finish line with a time of 22:06, claiming a 54th place finish. Following close behind her was Katie Jessee ’15, who placed in 58th with a time of 22:10. Deanna Godby ’16 was next for the Bison, finishing in 73rd with a time of 22:20.

Despite a knee injury early in the season, Hana Casalnova ’14 recovered strong and became a scoring member of the team, finishing 86th (20:43). The fifth place finisher for the Bison was Meghan Carroll ’16 (22:55) in 99th place, followed by teammates Alison Billas ’16 (122nd; 23:15) and Betsy Edinger ’15 (129th; 23:19).

“It’s impressive we did so well with such a young team,” Edinger said.  “[The freshman] really stepped up when they needed to. [Tolli], our one senior, has been our top finisher all season … she had an amazing season and was an inspiration to us all. I think that because we’re young we’re only going to get better … right now we’re just starting. I’m really proud of my team.”

In the overall team standings, the Bison ended up in about the middle of the pack with 368 points. Penn State claimed first in the region with a score of 61. Nicky Akande of Villanova was the top individual finisher with a time of 20:14.

The Orange and Blue have now completed their schedule for the fall season.