By Joe Iuliucci '18
GLASSBORO, N.J. – Racing their first 6k of the season at Rowan University's Bill Fritz Invitational on Saturday, the Ursinus College women's cross country team overcame sweltering conditions to place seventh among 13 teams.
RIT came out on top, and home team Rowan University placed second. Fellow Centennial Conference athlete Kate Edwards of Bryn Mawr was the race's individual winner in a time of 23:17.
After a brief hiatus, junior Riley Engel was back in action to lead the team. Her time of 25:32 secured her a top-20 finish: 18th among 109 runners.
In the first 6k of her college career, freshman Bianca Joseph crossed the line in 23:38 — just ahead of sophomore Ellie Stanley and second for the team. Stanley was just a few strides off in 28:42. As the fourth and fifth runners for the team, freshman Meredith Steele and sophomore Alyson Manley paced each other to finish in times of 29:30 and 29:32, respectively. This was Steele's first time racing for the Bears.
Junior Gabrielle Manto put in a strong effort to finish sixth in 30:05. The final scorer for the women was junior Audrey Simpson, who made her 6k debut in a time of 30:50.
After a hot and dusty 6k to start the season, the Ursinus women look forward to racing again in two weeks at Lehigh University's Paul Short Run on September 29. The Bears plan to take advantage of the cooler weather sure to come once summer officially ends by cutting down their times with each race.