BOSTON -- Junior Grace Cowles (Yarmouth, Maine) finished in eighth place to lead Wellesley College cross country to a third place team finish at the 2019 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships on Saturday at Franklin Park.
Cowles, senior Keiko Hilmo (Saint Paul, Minn.), and junior April Chu (Fremont, Calif.) each finished in the top-17 to earn All-Conference honors for the Blue. Cowles completed the women's 6k course in 23:05. Hilmo was 12th, matching her PR, in 23:15 and Chu took 15th in a PR time of 23:34. The honor is the second for Cowles (2018) while Hilmo and Chu were each named All-Conference for the first time.
MIT totaled 19 points to finish ahead of second-place Mount Holyoke College (80). Wellesley came in third with 92 points, while WPI was fourth with 116 points, and Coast Guard (141) edged Smith College by one point for fifth place. Izzi Gengaro of MIT took first place with a time of 21:58.
Sophomore Maya Bradbury (Freeport, Maine) and senior Eva Paradiso (Burlington, Vt.) finished as the final two scoring runners for the Blue. Bradbury was 22nd in 23:45, while Pardiso was 40th in 24:31. Junior Samara Shaz (New York, N.Y.) and senior Elizabeth Wegman (East Sandwich, Mass.) were five and six spots back of Paradiso, respectively. Shaz took 45th (24:42), while Wegman was 46th (24:45).
Senior Taylor Mahlandt (Ephrata, Pa) added a 62nd place (25:15) finish for Wellesley, while sophomore Natalie Li (Charlottesville, Va.) was 69th (25:26) and first year Ellie Murphy-Weise (San Francisco, Calif.) finished in 70th (25:29). Rounding out the wellesley competitors at the Championship, senior Fiona Harrigian (San Marino, Calif. ) was 99th (26:28), first year Bethany Pasko (Wellesley, Mass.) was 114th (27:13) and sophomore Kaylee Hill (Hingham, Mass.) finished in 128th (28:00).
Wellesley returns to action in two weeks at the 2019 NCAA Division III Northeast Regional at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine on Saturday, November 16.
2019 NEWMAC Women's All-Conference Team
1. Izzi Gengaro, MIT (21:58); 2. Katie Bacher, MIT (22:19); 3. Katie Collins, MIT (22:27); 4. Hannah Rieders, Mount Holyoke (22:42); 5. Madeline Rieders, Mount Holyoke (22:42); 6. Einat Gavish, MIT (22:57); 7. Katie Williams, MIT (23:01); 8. Grace Cowles, Wellesley (23:05); 9. Marissa McPhillips, MIT (23:12); 10. Emma Cavanaugh, Babson (23:13); 11. Karena Garcia, Smith (23:14); 12. Keiko Hilmo, Wellesley (23:15); 13. Ari Rozen, WPI (23:18); 14. Alana Chandler, MIT (23:27); 15. April Chu, Wellesley (23:34); 16. Lauren Selkin, Mount Holyoke (23:35); Katherine Leckerbee, Wheaton (23:36)
