Westfield State used a tight grouping among their top four runners to top the season-opening Keene State Alumni Invitational women's cross country race on Saturday in Keene, N.H.
Westfield State first-year Tealei Chandonnet (Dracut, Mass./Lowell Tech) placed fourth overall in 12:00 over the women's short two-mile course, followed in by classmate Julianne Kelly (Natick, Mass.), and sophomores Ariann Lecours (Haverhill, Mass.) and Grace Poplawski (Rowe, Mass./Mohawk), all less than 10 seconds behind Chandonnet as the Owls took fourth through seventh place in the individual slate. Senior Mia McDonald (Westfield, Mass.) took 10th in 12:20.
Westfield finished with 32 points overall, easily outpointing Div. II Assumption (55) and Keene (57) for the team title among four complete scoring teams.
The Owls gave new head coach Marlee Berg-Haryasz '09 her first career head-coaching win in her debut.
Berg-Haryasz '09 took over the reins of the Owls' program this spring following the retirement of longtime head coach Bill Devine '73. Berg, who was an XC and track and field athlete at Westfield as an undergraduate herself and won an NCAA Divison III title in the high jump, has been part of the Owls coaching and administrative staff since 2016.
"The women's team is 88 percent freshman and sophomores, and to say we're young is an understatement," said Berg-Haryasz. "Coming into the season on paper, we had strength and depth. To show that in the first meet was outstanding, and I am looking forward to seeing what they can accomplish as the season and their bonds progress."
Westfield will be back in action on September 17, traveling to the UMass Dartmouth Invitational Meet.