BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Competing in the Women's College Gold 6K at the Paul Short Run, presented by ASICS, the Division III No. 1 nationally-ranked MIT women's cross country team earned a 22nd place finish against a predominantly Division I field on Friday at Lehigh University's Goodman Campus. Senior Kate Sanderson was the top-performer for MIT, finishing 41st in 20:41.8.
The Paul Short Run is in honor of the late Paul Short who served as Lehigh's Business Manager and Assistant Director of Athletics for 29 years. Now in its 51st year, the event featured six high school races run on Thursday and eight college races on Friday. MIT also ran in the Open Men's 8K on Friday morning, where first year Sophie Cheung was MIT's top finisher in 51st (22:24.6).
THE BASICS:
- Women's College Gold 6K
- Winning Team Score: Villanova, 110 points
- MIT Team Score: 652 points, 22nd
- Top Finisher: Melissa Riggins, Georgetown (19:34.8)
- Top MIT Finisher: Kate Sanderson, 41st (20:41.8)
- Open Women's 6K
- No Team Score
- Top Finisher: Mary-Kate Finn, Unattached (20:04.4)
- Top MIT Finisher: Sophie Cheung, 51st (22:24.6)
HOW IT HAPPENED - Women's College Gold 6K:
- Sanderson navigated the 338-competitor field to move up from 152nd place at the first mile to her 41st place finish. From the 2-mile mark to the finish, Sanderson moved up over 50 spots.
- Junior Liv Girand was the second-highest finisher for the Engineers, coming across the finish in 132nd place with a time of 21:30.3 to place 126th.
- Senior Lexi Fernandez followed about six seconds behind Girand in 155th with a time of 21:36.1, earning her 149 points in the team standings.
- Junior Heather Jensen, 176th in 21:45.4, and sophomore Ava Hartman, 184th in 21:48.7, completed the MIT team score.
- Junior Jessica Meza secured 218th in 22:06.2 and classmate Megan Diulus was 257th in 22:32.9 to rounded out the top seven for MIT.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Sanderson was the top Division III finished in a predominantly Division I field. The All-American has set the pace for the Engineers in each of the team's first two races this season.
- Division III No. 6 Johns Hopkins edged MIT in the team standings, taking 20th with 602 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED - Women's Open 6K:
- Cheung was the only MIT runner inside the top 100 in the Open 6K, setting the pace for MIT while taking 51st in 22:24.6.
- Senior Erin Hovendon added a 102nd place finish with a time of 22:56.2, ahead of sophomore Kate Friedman's time of 23:10.4.
- First years Katherine Pagorek, 155th in 23:27.8, and Courtney McCracken, 199th in 23:50.2, were the fourth and fifth finishers for MIT, followed by sophomore Sarah Hopp's time of 23:58.7 in 211th place.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Cheung is off to a strong start to her collegiate career, adding today's finish to her 17th overall finish at the Cardinal Invitational on Sept. 20. She was third among Division III runners in a Division I heavy field.
- The women's open race featured a large field of 442 competitors.
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