WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State first-year Julianne Kelly (Natick, Mass.) paced the Owls to a 16th place finish at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational on Saturday afternoon from North Dartmouth, Mass. A total of 38 teams and over 280 runners participated in the event.
Kelly followed up a top five finish at the Keene State Invitational by topping the list of Owls to finish, placing 78th at a time of 19:37.99.
First-year Tealei Chandonnet (Dracut, Mass.) who also earned a top five finish in her first collegiate race, tallied a 92nd place finish at a mark of 19:50.90.
Following Kelly and Chandonnet was Ariann LeCours (Haverhill, Mass.), Mia McDonald (Westfield, Mass.) and Grace Poplawski (Rowe, Mass.). All five runners finished within a 41 second spread of one another. Six of the nine athletes also set personal best records.
Lauren Selkin of Mount Holyoke finished atop the chart on the women's side, finishing at a time of 17:49.26. UMass Lowell won the overall team meet at 54 points with five runners placing inside the top 20.
Westfield State returns to action on October 1 as the Owls will race in the Purple Valley Classic in Williamstown, Mass.