Smith Places Fourth at NEWMACs!

Clarke cheers as the team takes off at Franklin Park.

Snowstorm, race delay, a surprise Saturday workout, power outage, dorm evacuation....these are not the events that normally precede a championship cross-country race, but there's nothing like New England weather to remind us that cross country is not a sport for those who like predictability.  The championship race finally took place Monday afternoon, October 31, on the muddy, soggy Franklin Park course.  Conditions were not exactly prime for record-breaking times, but this did not stop the rugged Smith runners from  doing just that. They raced to a fourth place finish out of the ten NEWMAC Conference teams.  MIT, Wellesley, and Coast Guard captured first, second, and third respectively.

A few gems from the race:

Sophomore Victoria Dunch raced through the mud to a personal best time of 19:57 and finished 20th overall.

 Senior Hania Thomas-Adams tackled Bear Cage Hill to finish 60th overall.

The Pack: Kristin, fierce wounded warrior (note the intimidating hamstring wrap front and center), Abby, and Katie (about to pass the two Wellesley runners in the background) finished within five seconds of each other.

Courtney passes a runner from Babson en route to her strongest race performance so far this season.

Kylee was back in action for NEWMACs after overcoming a knee injury that kept her cross-training for the first part of the season.  Wounded knee no more!

Katie finds her fifth gear as she races to the finish line.

This picture does no justice to the muddiness of the runners' feet, legs, and backs after the race.

NEWMAC All Conference Team: Caroline Kimball-Katz (left) placed fourteenth place overall to secure a spot on the All Conference team.

Big thanks to Liza for taking all these pictures!