MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Southern Vermont College women's cross country team ran hard against a tough field Saturday afternoon at Middlebury College's Aldrich Invitational with Mountaineer sophomore Shelby Whitman (Bennington, Vermont) running her way to SVC's top 10 record list.
Whitman finished the 5000 meter course in 54th place overall, crossing at 22:04. That was 52 seconds faster than her previous best and puts her at ninth all-time for an SVC runner on a 5K course. The Mountaineers finished seventh overall as a team on the day and saw five of the seven runners who participated set new personal records.
Sophomore Schyler McGuire (Mechanicville, New York) was right behind Whitman, finishing at 22:20. Senior Emily Freling (Schenevus, New York) was third for the Mountaineers, running a personal best time of 27:13; that was 1:42 faster than her previous personal record. Senior Tenzin Dhekyong (Amherst, Massachusetts) also had a PR, crossing fourth for SVC at 27:20, 1:34 faster than her previous best. Freshman Courtney Kellar (Berlin, New York) rounded out the Southern Vermont top five, taking a whole three minutes off of her personal best time that she set last week in her first collegiate race, finishing Saturday's meet at 30:25.
Senior Sarah Lampro (Otis, Massachusetts) was next across the line behind Kellar, coming in at 35:30. Sophomore Victoria Cotter (Yonkers, New York) rounded out the Mountaineer squad, also setting a new personal best with a time of 36:25; that finish was 1:34 faster than her previous personal record.
Middlebury swept the top five individual placements en route being crowned the team champion and saw seven runners finish in the top 10. MC senior Katie Carlson (Princeton, Massachusetts) was the first runner to cross the line, taking the individual championship with a time of 18:49.
SVC now prepares to compete at the Williams College Purple Valley Invitational next Saturday, September 27th, a 5K race slated to start at 1 p.m.
Southern Vermont College
54th – Shelby Whitman (22:04) PR
59th – Schyler McGuire (22:20)
92nd – Emily Freling (27:13) PR
93rd – Tenzin Dhekyong (27:20) PR
94th – Courtney Kellar (30:25) PR
95th – Sarah Lampro (35:30)
96th – Victoria Cotter (36:25) PR