WESTFIELD, Mass.- Westfield State University first-year Julianne Kelly (Natick, Mass.) was the Owls' top finisher in 14th place, leading the women's cross-country team to a 3rd place finish at the Owls' 26th annual James Earley Invitational on Saturday at Stanley Park.
Kelly flew through the 5,000-meter course in just 19:32.58.
Kelly already has two Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Runner and Rookie of the Week awards and makes a strong case for a third after her performance on Saturday.
Smith sophomore Anna-Louise Wildes took home the individual title, finishing first overall with a time of 18:49.78. Wildes was followed by Utica first-year Gianna Welker, and Roger Williams junior Caitlin Boufford who finished second and third respectively with times of 19:00.21, and 19:02.09.
Smith College won the meet outright with a final tally of 45 points, followed by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Westfield State. RPI totaled 112 points and the Owls totaled 141.
Ariann LeCours (Haverhill, Mass.) and Shea Hamel (Longmeadow, Mass.) were the next finishers for Westfield, as they finished back-to-back 29th and 30th overall with times of 20:04.94 and 20:06.3 respectively.
Tealei Chandonnet (Dracut, Mass.) finished fourth for the Owls, finishing 32nd overall with a time of 20:12.10.
Mia McDonald (Westfield, Mass.)(41st, 20:26.7) Brynn LeCours (Haverhill, Mass.)(59th, 20:41.53) Lauren Flynn (Upton, Mass.)(82nd, 21:29.53) and Rebecca Patel (Belchertown, Mass.)(116th, 22:58.67) rounded out thetop eight in the women's white race for Westfield State University.
25 teams and 167 runners from around the region competed in the women's white race.
In the women's blue race, RPI had six out of the ten top finishers, Smith College had three, and Leah Castle was the lone Springfield College runner to fill in the top ten for the women's blue race.
RPI sophomores Haley Young, Sara Crippen, and Abby Price along with first-year Grace Turner took first, second, fourth, and tenth overall.
Smith junior Reimy Liou, and first-years Hillary Connor, and Leila Cowan snagged third, fifth, and sixth respectively.
RPI won the women's blue race with 15 total points.
76 total women ran in the blue race.
Westfield State Cross Country will compete again next on Saturday, October 15th at the Western New England University Invitational, in Springfield Massachusetts.
-- by Dave Cataloni, Sports Information Intern