WATERFORD, Conn.  -  CGA Women's Cross Country competed at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships today at Harkness Park. The Mideast region has been the strongest of the ten regions in the country all year, sporting 7-8 teams ranked in the top-30 nationally every week. Amongst this field, the Bear's were able to finish 8th, with a score of 180 points. Williams, the #6-ranked team in the country won the meet with a score of 59. The womens' strong showing, coupled with Men's Cross Country's 9th place finish at their meet, marks the first time since 1994 that both Men's and Women's Cross Country have finished in the top-10 at the NCAA Regional Championships.

The Bears were lead by senior Paige Phillips, whose time of 21:27 was good enough for the 7th overall. Close behind Phillips was junior Claire Semerod, who ran 21:43 for 12th place. Senior Sidney Triepke had a gutsy race to finish 3rd for the team, her time of 22:48 was 44th overall. Freshman Mary Faltys continued what is an impressive string of personal bests, running 23:01 for 4th on the team and 54th overall. Faltys' time also moves her into the top-20 6k performances in CGA history. Rounding out the Bear's Scoring 5 was another freshman, Hannah Edwards, whose 23:15 was just off her best of the year, good for 66th overall. Senior Sophia White, and junior Lauren Mellon finished in the 6 and 7 spots for CGA, respectively.

With their 8th place finish, Women's Cross Country will likely be "on the bubble" as the NCAA selection committee considers at-large bids to the National Championships. Those results will be released on Sunday, November 17th. If the women's team does not receive an at-large bid to NCAAs, Phillips, Semerod, and most likely Triepke will earn individual qualification to the national Championships. The NCAA Championships will be held on November 23rd on the historic LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana.