SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In an unusual Friday open meet, the Southern Vermont College women's cross country squad ran hard on a 5K course in Saratoga Spa State Park during the Saratoga Invitational hosted by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and even saw its record time get close to being broken.

Freshman Schyler McGuire (Mechanicsville, N.Y.) led the Mountaineers with a time of 20:37.5, the second-best in school history. She was just 30 seconds off the top time, 20:37, which is still held by first-year head coach Kathleen Newton. McGuire's time landed her 107th in Friday's meet that contained a large and very competitive field. Second across the line for Southern Vermont was sophomore captain Haley Omasta (Danbury, Conn.) who came in with a time of 22:20.1.

The scenic park course was blanketed with sunshine all day, seeing temperatures in the high 70s that gave way to comfortable running for the participants.

Sophomore Ashley Perrino (Rotterdam, N.Y.) was third forthe team with a time of 33:20.9, followed by freshman Abby Beaucage (Starksboro, Vt.) who crossed at 34:50.6 in her first collegiate open meet. Senior Sara Burds (Williston, Vt.) rounded out the Southern Vermont top-five, finishing in 35:37.5.

St. Lawrence University senior Ariel Beccia (Rutland, Mass.) led all participants with a time of 17:25.7 to help the Saints

 take the team title. Ithaca College and SUNY New Paltz were the first and second runner-ups, respectively. The Mountaineers finished 13th as a team.

Southern Vermont sets its sights on next weekend's Vermont State Championship being hosted by Castleton State College.