Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to compete in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships this past weekend, with both teams finishing in impressive placements. The women’s team finished in eighth place overall, with the men’s team also finishing in eighth. Most notably, Christine Bendzinski ’18 completed her final Mid-Atlantic Regionals with a stunning fourth-place finish, an automatic qualification for the NCAA championships. After many accolades over four years of competition for the Bison, Bendzinski is finally set to compete at the next level after struggling with injuries in years prior.

Looking back on the race, Bendzinski commented, “When things got tough, I knew that it would be my last cross country race of my college career–so that pushed me to go faster to try to push off the end. I’m so happy to have finally accomplished something like this and bring the orange and blue to nationals!”

Three runners on the women’s team were able to finish in the top 50 in a field of almost 200; Colleen Buckley ’19 and Jenna Farmer ’19 rounded out the Bison’s top three, placing 21st and 49th respectively.

On the men’s side, the Orange and Blue placed two athletes in the top 50 runners; Will Bordash ’18 came in at 29th and Drew Dorflinger ’20 placed 31st for the Bison. After being ranked 9th going into the meet, the 8th place finish for the Bison was a result of impressive efforts from the entire team competing in the race.

For the women, Bendzinski will continue her season as she travels to compete in the NCAA race, which is set to take place in Louisville, Ky. Nov. 18th.