Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Princeton Invitational
Chandler Leads Women's Cross Country to Sixth Place at Princeton Invitational
10/17/2015 9:19:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
PRINCETON, N.J. – Sarah Chandler finished seventh out of 206 runners to lead the Bucknell women's cross country team to a sixth-place showing at the Princeton Invitational on Saturday. It was the final regular season meet of the season for the Bison, who will compete in the Patriot League Championships at Colgate on Saturday Oct. 31.
The Bison posted a score of 199, finishing ahead of Georgetown, Rider, La Salle and Saint Joseph's in the top 10. Penn won the team title with 71, while Guelph was second with 82.
Chandler crossed the line in 21:23 on the 6.1k course. Temple's Blanca Fernandez won with a time of 20:58.5, edging Guelph's Katelyn Ayers by two-tenths of a second. Lehigh, Loyola (Md.), Navy and Lafayette joined the Bison at the event. Chandler was the top Patriot League runner by 36 spots in the individual standings.
Deanna Godby took 43rd and Kate VanNess was 47th to give the Bison three runners in the top 50. Nora Adams (51st), Christine O'Kane (62nd), Grace Loh (67th), Christine Bendzinski (72nd), Elizabeth Sheprow (76th) and Alison Billas (87th) all finished in the top 100.
“We had some injuries and sickness this past week which shook up our lineup quite a bit,” said Bucknell head coach Kevin Donner. “With that said, we expect to be at full strength for leagues and regionals. I thought Chandler ran great and is running at a new level. The one minute gap between her and our second runner was way too much, and we will have to cut that gap if we want to be ready for the championships.”
Notably absent from the Bucknell lineup on Saturday was Kate Scott. The junior was the top finisher in each of the three races she ran in so far this season.
Bucknell also sent runners to the Penn State Open, which included the host Nittany Lions, Youngstown State and Saint Francis. Margaret Thompson paced the Bison with an eighth-place finish out of 39 runners. She was the third fastest freshman in the field. The race was won by Saint Francis's Morgan Kiebler in 22:30, seven seconds ahead of second-place Victoria Crawford from Penn State.
Leigh Ann Labate was just four spots behind Thompson in 12th. Brennan Sharkey, Lauren Hazzard and Kathleen Fitzgerald finished in order from 18th to 20th.
Players Mentioned
