ATTLEBORO, Mass. – The No. 2 ranked MIT women's cross country team saw nine runners earn All-Conference honors on the way to winning an 18th consecutive NEWMAC Women's Cross Country Championship on Saturday at the Mark Coogan Cross Country Course at Highland Park. The 6k NEWMAC title race was hosted by Wheaton College. 

Following the race, MIT grad student Gillian Roeder was announced as the inaugural recipient of the NEWMAC Women's Cross Country Laurels of Academic Excellence, presented to the student-athlete with the highest GPA competing at the NEWMAC Championship.  

THE BASICS: 

• Winning Team Score: MIT, 24 points 
• Top Finisher: Claire Semerod, Coast Guard (21:26.6) 
• Top MIT Finisher: Kate Sanderson, 2nd place (21:38.2) 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Engineers had five of the top seven and seven of the top ten finishers in the field. 
• Senior Kate Sanderson was the individual runner-up, leading MIT with a time of 21:38.2, while classmate Rujuta Sane finished fourth in 21:58.4.  
• Junior Liv Girand was fifth in 22:08.6 and senior Lexi Fernandez finished sixth in 22:13.4. Roeder was the final scoring runner for MIT, placing seventh in 22:15.0. 
• Jessica Meza earned her first All-Conference honor in ninth (22:35.2) while Ava Hartman also finished in the top ten with a time of 22:45.6. 
• Erin Hovendon and Megan Diulus also earned All-Conference honors for MIT, taking 17th (23:08.9) and 18th (23:09.3), respectively.  

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• MIT has won 18th straight and 20th overall NEWMAC Championships. 
• Sanderson, last year's NEWMAC champion, and Fernandez are now both four-time NEWMAC Academic All-Conference honorees. 
• Girand, Roeder and Hovendon are now each three-time NEWMAC All-Conference award winner. 
• Sane, Hartman and Diulus each earned NEWMAC All-Conference honors for the second time. 
• Meza earned her first NEWMAC All-Conference honor on Saturday. 

NEWMAC ALL-CONFERENCE (Top 19 Finishers):

• 2. Kate Sanderson (21:38.2) 
• 4. Rujuta Sane (21:58.4) 
• 5. Liv Girand (22:08.6) 
• 6. Lexi Fernandez (22:13.4) 
• 7. Gillian Roeder (22:15.0) 
• 9. Jessica Meza (22:35.2) 
• 10. Ava Hartman (22:45.6) 
• 17. Erin Hovendon (23:08.9) 
• 18. Megan Diulus (23:09.3) 

UP NEXT:

• The Engineers will run at the NCAA DIII East Regional Championship on Saturday, November 15 at Hopkinton Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, N.H.  

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