KEENE, N.H. – Saturday's cold and rainy conditions could not prevent the Southern Vermont College women's cross country team from having its best race of the season as the Mountaineers ran exceptionally well at the Keene State College Invitational.

Five of the seven SVC runners posted personal-best times with the squad finishing fifth out of nine teams that posted collective results.

The Mountaineers are now off until Saturday, October 14 when they head to Western New England University for the 10:30 a.m. Golden Bear Invitational.

Bennington College senior Annika Kristiansen (Keene, N.H.) returned to her hometown and led SVC with a stellar mark of 20:29—coming across the line just 25 seconds behind her program-record time in her first race of the season. Bennington classmate Isabella Poulos (Milwaukee, Wis.) wasn't far behind as she came through at 21:00.

Reigning New England Collegiate Conference Rookie of the Week and freshman Emily Ikonen (Hubbardston, Mass.) registered a new PR for the fourth-straight race—this time taking 1:52 off her previous-best mark with a 23:14. SVC senior Lexia Gillette (Pittsfield, Mass.) wasn't far behind as she knocked 2:05 off her old personal record to chart a 23:43.

Mountaineer junior Maddy Main (Bennington, Vt.) clipped her previous PR by 3:03 to round out the team's scoring at fifth with a 24:44, and classmate Stephany Ferreira (Shelton, Conn.) finished at 25:34 as she took 3:03 off of her prior top mark. SVC freshman Faith Sullivan (Bennington, Vt.) had the team's best PR of the day—coming in at 29:52 for a time 3:48 faster than her old PR.

Southern Vermont College
22nd – Annika Kristiansen: 20:29
33rd – Isabella Poulos: 21:00
56th – Emily Ikonen: 23:14 (PR)
58th – Lexia Gillette: 23:43 (PR)
62nd – Maddy Main: 24:44 (PR)
66th – Stephany Ferreira: 25:34 (PR)
78th – Faith Sullivan: 29:52 (PR)

– #LetsGoSVC –