WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State placed five runners in the top 10, led by a third-place overall finish from conference Rookie of the Year Shea Hamel (Longmeadow, Mass.), as the Owls won the 2022 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference women's cross country title at Stanley Park on Saturday morning.
Hamel finished in 19:28.87, just 12 seconds back of conference champion Abby Murphy of Fitchburg State. Bridgewater's Nicole Major split that duo to finish in second. Hamel earns the league's Rookie of the Year as the top finishing newcomer in the league this season.
Westfield had both a tight grouping and dominated the top of the standings, as the Owls placed all seven of their displacing runners in the top 13.
Grad student Mia McDonald (Westfield, Mass.) came home in fourth for Westfield in 19:32.78, Ariann Lecours (Haverhill, Mass.) was sixth in 19:51.67, Tealei Chandonnet (Dracut, Mass./Greater Lowell Tech) paced eighth in 19:55.73, Julianne Kelly (Natick, Mass.) was 10th in 20:03.09 to round out the Owls scoring five.
All will be awarded all-conference honors when the league announces them on Monday.
Westfield State's Molly Kennedy (West Springfield, Mass.) placed 11th and Grace Poplawski (Rowe, Mass./Mohawk Trail) 13th to further displace the opposition.
Westfield finished with 31 points, followed by second-place Fitchburg with 63, and third-place Bridgewater with 68.
The Owls won the conference title for the third straight year, and the 24th time since the conference began crowning a champion in 1985.
The title is the first under head coach Marlee Berg-Haryasz, who took over the head coaching role this season. Berg won the league's BSN Sports coach of the year award today in a vote of her peers.
Westfield will take next weekend off from competition before closing out the regular season with the NCAA Regional Qualifying meet at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y.