WELLESLEY, Mass. -- The Wellesley College cross country team posted a perfect score of 15 points as the Blue raced to a first place finish at the 2010 Wellesley Invitational. The 5K event was held on Wellesley's lake course on a sunny and cool Saturday afternoon.

The Blue's Leah Clement took home the individual title in a time of 19:17, the fastest Wellesley Invitational winning time since 2006.  The junior eclipsed the field of 35 runners by over a minute.  Backed by Clement, Wellesley swept the top five scoring spots to earn the perfect score, taking first out of three teams.

Taking second and third place overall were Wellesley seniors Eliza Tibbits and Jami-Lin Williams.  Tibbits posted a time of 20:20, while Williams finished the race in 20:41.  Rounding out the top five, Andrea Gumushian finished in 20:41, while Adiba Manning recorded a 21:09.

Wellesley also got strong races from their fifth through tenth finishers, as the top-10 Blue runners were broken up only by Saint Joseph's Julie Pattyson who took sixth place.  Wellesley's Doris Berman (21:19) and Mina Juhn (21:30) finished sixth and seventh, while Catherine Roseman (21:45), Skye Roberts (21:49) and Zoe Sobel (22:13) all finished in the top 11.

Rounding out the entries for Wellesley, Ali Grzywna took 14th in 23:01, Katie Sheahon placed 15th in 23:21, Libby Freeman took 16th in 23:28 and Amy Wolkin finished 17th in 23:34.

Saint Joseph College took second place overall, backed by Pattyson's sixth place finish in 21:19.  Following Pattyson, Liz Plummer took 12th overall in a time of 22:36 and Melody Smith placed 13th in 22:40.

Wheelock ended the day in third place, as the Wildcats were paced by an 18th place finish from Maria Sideri in 23:36.

Wellesley now sets their sights on the 2010 NEWMAC Championships hosted by Clark University next Saturday at 2:30pm.

After the meet, Wellesley celebrated senior day, honoring the four members of the Class of 2011:

Hubertz	Tibbits	Sheahon	Williams

Liz Hubertz, a political science major from Fort Wayne, IN.
Katie Sheahon, a French major from Kansas City, MO.
Eliza Tibbits, an architecture major from Old Town, ME.
Jami-Lin Williams, an English/Spanish major from Waterville, ME.

The members of the Class of 2011 have led the Wellesley cross country team for four successful seasons.  In their tenure, the Blue have finished third or higher at the last four Seven Sisters Championships and fifth or higher at the NEWMAC Championships. They took home the Seven Sisters Championship in 2010 and have won three Wellesley Invitational titles, and two Pop Crowell Invitational titles.  In the midst of a spectacular season, the 2010 Blue have also won the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational and the Roger Williams Invitational.