SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – With just two meets left before the New England Collegiate Conference Championship, the Southern Vermont College women's cross country team came off a week of rest to run hard against a tough field at Western New England University's Golden Bear Invitational on Saturday.

The weather conditions for the meet were nearly perfect for the runners with cool temperatures, sunny skies and low humidity. The Mountaineers went shoulder-to-shoulder with a slew of talented teams on a course that was, while well-groomed, so narrow in parts that the participants had to slow down to almost a walking pace at times.

Southern Vermont finished 12th as a team out of 22 squads that chalked up scores while the University of New England won the meet with a total of just 17 points.

SVC is back in action next Saturday, October 22 for its final meet before the league's title race. The team will head back to Mount Greylock Regional High School for the second time this year to participate in Williams College's Plansky Invitational (12 p.m.).

FULL RESULTS: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/16/ma/Oct15_Wester_set1.shtml

Southern Vermont was paced by Bennington College junior Annika Kristiansen (Keene, N.H.) who finished just 11 seconds behind her personal-best time with a 20:49 to take 26th overall. Her Bennington classmate Isabella Poulos (Milwaukee, Wis.) was next to finish for SVC, crossing at 21:24 for a time 2:36 faster than she chalked up at last year's Golden Bear. Mountaineer senior captain Shelby Whitman (Bennington, Vt.) was third for the team with a 22:28-- that mark being 1:45 ahead of any that she's posted in a 5000 meter race this year.

SVC senior rookie Jordan Welch (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) placed fourth for her team for the second-straight meet, coming in at 22:57 to tie her personal record. Classmate Skye McGuire (Mechanicville, N.Y.) was right on her heels, rounding out the Mountaineers' top five with a 22:59 showing. Sophomore Morgan Arleth (Berlin, Vt.) was next to cross the line for Southern Vermont at 24:25, finishing just two seconds ahead of senior teammate Emily Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.) who came in at 24:27.

Mountaineer sophomore rookie Bailey Bradbury (Grants Pass, Ore.) was only 15 seconds behind her personal best with a 24:30 while sophomore Morgan Kaeppel (Vernon, Vt.) was next for the team at 26:25; that was 33 seconds faster than Kaeppel ran at the 2015 Golden Bear. Senior Kaylee Cross (Lewis, N.Y.) also had a solid improvement over her time from a year ago, finishing Saturday's race with a 29:19 to be 32 seconds faster than she ran at WNEU in her junior year.

Southern Vermont
26th - Annika Kristiansen: 20:49
46th - Isabella Poulos: 21:24
91st - Shelby Whitman: 22:28
112th - Jordan Welch: 22:57
113th - Skye McGuire: 22:59
156th - Morgan Arleth: 24:25
159th - Emily Lesure: 24:27
161st - Bailey Bradbury: 24:30
203rd - Morgan Kaeppel: 26:25
224th - Kaylee Cross: 29:19

– #LetsGoSVC –