WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State University first-year Julianne Kelly (Natick, Mass.) earned her third consecutive Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week award after leading the woman's cross-country team to a third-place finish at the 26th annual James Earley Invitational this past weekend.
Kelly's stellar rookie campaign continued with a 14th place finish at a time of 19:32.58 at the Stanley Park 5,000-meter course. A total of 167 total athletes competed in the race.
Kelly earned MASCAC Rookie of the Week honors in the two weeks prior. Last week, she placed 34th, crossing the finish line in 25:05.8 at the Purple Valley Classic Invitational in Williamstown, Mass. The other was her performance in the UMass Dartmouth Invitational, where she finished in 19:37.99 (78th/280 total competing athletes).
This is the fourth consecutive week the Westfield State women's cross-country team has won the Rookie of the Week award, with Kelly winning the past three weeks, and Tealei Chandonnet (Dracut, Mass.) winning in week one.
The Owls next meet will take place on Saturday, October 15 in Springfield, Massachusetts as they participate in the Western New England University Invitational.