By Joe Iuliucci '18
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – For the second straight season, junior Riley Engel ran at the head of the pack for the Ursinus College women's cross country team at the Centennial Conference Championship held Sunday at Gettysburg.
Engel finished 34th overall in a time of 24:14.4 for the Bears, who placed ninth in the team standings. It was the best career conference finish for Engel, who was 45th as a freshman and 47th last season; she sliced 38 seconds off her time from last season's championship.
Johns Hopkins won the women's race with ease, followed by Dickinson, Haverford, Swarthmore, Gettsyburg, Bryn Mawr, Muhlenberg, and Franklin and Marshall. The Ursinus women finished ahead of 10th-place McDaniel. John Hopkins's Ellie Clawson was the individual champion with a time of 21:17.
Senior Lily Talerman was the second Ursinus runner across the line, crossing in 25:34.5 to land in 60th place.
Sophomore Alyson Manley (26:29.6) and freshman Bianca Joseph (26:30.3) were neck and neck as the Bears' third and fourth finishers, while sophomore Ellie Stanley (27:04.2) and junior Audrey Simpson (27:08.3) were also close together throughout the six-kilometer course.
Junior Gabrielle Manto was seventh for Ursinus, finishing the track in 27:52.0.
With the added guidance and knowledge of assistant coach Crystal Bacon, the Ursinus women's team will only move up in the conference in the coming years.
The cross country teams host their annual Fall Twilight meet on November 3 before concluding the season at the NCAA Mideast Regional on November 11 at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pa. This will give them the opportunity to find out how they rank among over fifty Division III teams in each field.