PINELAND FARMS GRAY, Maine -- Sophomore Taylor Mahlandt (Ephrata, Pa.) finished 23rd overall to lead the Wellesley College cross country team to a fourth place finish at the Bates Super XC Shootout on Saturday afternoon at Pineland Farms.

Mahlandt recorded a time of 19:59.7 and was followed by senior Isabella King (Cincinnati, Ohio) who finished 24th overall in 20:01.3. First year Ava Shipman (Makawao, Hawaii) followed closely behind her teammates finishing 28th overall in 20:09.5.

Host Bates had two runners finish in the top-four, including overall winner Katherine Cook (South Burlington, Vt.), to finish second in the team standings (168), however, Tufts (114) took the team title at the event after placing five in the top-ten. WPI (231) finished third, followed by the Blue in fourth (358). 

The team scores in Saturday's event were made up of the top-ten finishers for each school. First year Samara Shaz (New York, N.Y.) and sophomore Sophie Dolan (Austin, Texas), followed Mahlandt, King, and Shipman across the line, finishing 42nd and 45th for the Blue with times of 20:44.4 and 20:51.6, respectively. 

First year Hannah Russo (Summit, N.J.) took 51st in 21:08.7, while sophomore Keiko Hilmo, (Saint Paul, Minn.) followed in 57th with a time of 21:22.2 and first year Grace Cowles (Yarmouth, Maine) was 58th in 21:29.1. Senior Taylor Fortnam (Portola Valley, Calif.) and junior Catherine Xie (Newton, Mass.) rounded out the scoring runners for Wellesley in 61st (21:49.1) and 63rd (21:52.2) place, respectively. 

Also in action for the Blue: Sophomore Eva Paradiso (Burlington, Vt.) took 65th (22:14.8), first year Flora Naylor (San Antonio, Texas) was 67th (22:36.5), sophomore Fiona Harrigian (San Marino, Calif) finished 68th (22:46.5), sophomore Elizabeth Lambert (Kensington, Md.) was 71st (23:14.9) and first year Taylor Balfour (Rockville, Md.) finished 72nd (23:20.6).

Wellesley will race again next Saturday, September 23, at the Purple Valley Classic at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass.