WESTFIELD, Mass. – A fall season of hard work for the Southern Vermont College women's cross country team culminated for three Mountaineer harriers on Saturday at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) New England Regional Championship, hosted by Westfield State University in Westfield, Mass.
367 women from over 50 squads competed in ideal running weather with the temperature around 55 degrees, the sun out and hardly any wind. Massachusetts Institute of Technology placed first as a team, and Amherst College senior Keri Lambert (Amherst, Mass.) crossed the line first in 20:48.94.
Southern Vermont freshman and All-New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) First Team member Alice Lala (Biddesford, Maine) finished the 6K first for the Mountaineers with a time of 25:17.05. With that time, she lands on the SVC all-time top five list at second, behind only Kathleen Newton who ran the 2002 NCAA Regional in 24:09. Lala's first five kilometers were split at a personal-best rate, and she was the third NECC runner to finish.
Freshman Haley Omasta (Danbury, Conn.), a member of the All-NECC Second Team, came in at 26:51.77, putting her third on the all-time SVC 6K list. Senior captain Loni Masiero (Wallkill, N.Y.) matched her 2011 NCAA Regional time of 29:18, now the 6th-best time for a Mountaineer on a longer course. She passed handfuls of runners in the last mile during her final race in an SVC uniform.
"Today was a great way to finish our season," said SVC head coach Maria Stuber. "It's fun for Coach Billy [Obenauer] and I to see which athletes are fueled by the challenge and excitement of a higher level of competition."