CUMBERLAND, Maine - The Middlebury College Panthers, paced by junior Jessica Manzer's (Palatine Bridge, N.Y.) fourth place finish, captured the 2003 NCAA Division III New England Regional Women's Cross Country Championship at the Twin Brook Recreation Complex Saturday morning.

The Panthers placed their five scoring runners among the first 17 finishers for a team total of 51 points to outdistance rival Williams College which finished second with 77 points. Amherst College and Trinity College each had 113 points to tie for third, and Bowdoin College captured fifth place with 171 points. All five teams advance to next weekend's NCAA Division III National Championship race at Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana.Manzer led the Panthers in the race as she finished fourth with a time of 22:18, 27 seconds off the winning pace.

Placing eighth and nine with the same time of 22:39 were senior Molly Yazwinski (Deerfield, Mass.) and first-year racer Erin Archard (Vienna, Maine). Rookie Andrea Giddings (S. Portland, Maine) placed 13th with a time of 22:46, followed by junior Marisa Cawley (Bennington, N.H.) in 17th place with a time of 23:00.