WELLESLEY, Mass. -

Coast Guard Women's Cross Country competed today in the NEWMAC Championships at Nehoiden Golf Course, hosted by Wellesley College. For the second year in a row the women finished 2nd as a team, this year scoring 65 points. MIT, the top ranked team in the country, won the meet with 16 points.

Junior Claire Semerod(Centennial, CO) was the top finisher for the Bears. Her 21:57 earned 5th overall and All NEWMAC honors. Senior Paige Phillips(Wilmington, NC) came in second for the team, her 22:05 was good for 9th overall and another All-NEWMAC finish. 3rd for the women was Junior Lauren Mellon(Falls Church, VA), whose 22:49  was 17th overall, marking the 3rd runner on the team to finish with All-NEWMAC honors. Senior Sophia White(Gurley, AL) was 4th for the Bears, her time of 23:02 good for 20th overall. The women's underclass had a great day, with Freshmen Hannah Edwards (23:06), Freshmen Mary Faltys (23:14), Sophomore Annabel Molner (23:15), and Freshmen Brooke Hunter (23:15) finishing 5th through 8th for the team, all notching 6km bests, and all within the top 30 finishers at the meet.

Coach Greg Ahnrud had the following to say about the Bears performance: "Our top Juniors and Seniors continued to take care of business as they have all season. I'm really impressed with the races the younger ladies who finished 4-8 for us today had, being so close together and dropping significant time off their previous best marks on what is a fairly challenging course. Having done what we needed to do this weekend at NEWMACs, we need to refocus on the regional championships and having out best possible day there."

Women's Cross Country will next race at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships on November 16th. The meet is hosted by Connecticut College at Harkness Park, where the women will look to make another bid for the NCAA championships.