The ninth-ranked Middlebury women's cross country team secured a second-place finish at the NESCAC Championships, headlined by Audrey MacLean's second-consecutive individual conference crown. Top-ranked Williams secured its sixth-consecutive conference title with 32 points, while #13 Connecticut College placed third (81 points).
 
COURSE INFORMATION

• Location: New London, Conn.
• Host School: Connecticut College
• Distance: 6 kilometers (6K)
• Weather: 52 and mostly sunny
• Finish: 2nd of 11

HIGHLIGHTS

• Holding third place after the first split, MacLean pushed to the front after 2.6 kilometers and never relinquished the lead with a tape-breaking time of 20:47.8.
• Claire Palmer secured a top-three finish, crossing the line in 21:06.9 to improve her previous fastest 6K time by 2.4 seconds and garner third. The rookie never dropped outside the top-four spots during the race.
• The next Panther scorer was MK Cestaro, climbing 27 spots from the first split to the finish line to claim 16th in 21:54.3. The finish was 6.3 seconds faster than her collegiate-best time in the navy and white.
• Shea Fajen nabbed 20th place with a career-low clocking of 22:07.7, shaving 1.8 seconds off of her effort at the Connecticut College Invitational. Grace Kaelber rounded out the Middlebury scorers, claiming 32nd (22:25.0) to better her career time by 2.5 seconds.
• Naomi Atwood (22:37.2) and Victoria Fawcett (22:52.7) finished in 41st and 51st, respectively.

NOTES

• MacLean becomes the first Middlebury runner to repeat as the NESCAC individual champion since Jessica Johnston in 1999 and 2000. The junior joins Karin VonBerg (1977-78), Dorcas Denhartog (1984-86) and Johnston as one of four Panthers to accomplish the feat.
• The field consisted of five teams ranked in the top 25 of the latest United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Poll: #1 Williams, #9 Middlebury, #17 Tufts, #18 Amherst and #25 Bowdoin.

The Panthers return to competition in two weeks when they travel to St. Lawrence for the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships on Saturday, September 15 at 12:15 p.m.