By Ajan Caneda
Writer
Plagued by unusually snowy conditions, the women’s cross country team finished second for the second consecutive year at the Patriot League Championship last Saturday in Bethlehem, Pa., just three points behind Navy. Patriot League rivals Colgate, Army and Lehigh followed finishing third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Eight teams competed at the meet as All-Patriot League selection Caroline Tolli ’13 led the Orange and Blue with a fifth-place finish and a time of 22:38.50. Four-time All-Patriot League teammate Stephanie Fulmer ’12 also made the top 10, placing seventh only two seconds behind Tolli
“It’s always tough when you come up three points short of a championship,” Tolli said. “We are way more proud of the heart we showed yesterday in having 24 men and women fight hard… Saturday was a great day to be a runner at Bucknell.”
There were other strong performances from the Bison as eight runners made the top 25, the most of any team.
First-year runners Betsy Edinger ’15 and Katie Jessee ’15 placed 15th and 21st, respectively. Emily Liggett ’12, Melissa Smith ’12, Hana Casalnova ’14 and Kelly Grosskurth ’12 also finished in the top 25.
The Orange and Blue averaged a time of 22:53.66 and had an overall time of 1:54:28.30.
The Bison finished 9.12 seconds behind Navy’s average time of 22:44.54. With this close split, it turned out to be a two-team race as the Bison finished 42 points ahead of third-place Colgate.
“Our ladies ran with a lot of confidence and did not let the snowstorm affect them. It hurts coming so close and although we didn’t win, I would say it was a moral victory,” head coach Kevin Donner said.
“They went in with the intention of winning the meet even though we were the underdog,” he said. “We have really improved as a team and have a lot of our runners peaking at the right time. I am very excited for our next meet coming up.”
The Orange and Blue travel to Princess Anne, Md. on Nov. 12 to compete in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships.
“Our team’s close finish behind Navy will give us quite a bit of drive for the Mid-Atlantic Regional meet,” Fulmer said. “Our aim is to beat them and we will be ready to really give them a run.”