Northampton, MA --- WPI graduate student Grace Hadley (North Reading, MA) became the first NEWMAC Cross Country Champion in program history, leading the Engineers to a third-place finish at the event on Saturday afternoon at Smith College.
 
Hadley blazed past the 134-runner field, clocking in at 22:18.7, nearly 22 seconds faster than her nearest competitor. She is now a two-time All-NEWMAC honoree and takes home the first NEWMAC Runner of the Year honor of her career. 
 
WPI, ranked second in the USTFCCCA East Region and 19th nationally, compiled 65 team points to rank third among the 12 teams. MIT, the national #7 and the top-ranked team in the East, won the event with 35 points, while Coast Guard took a surprise second with 47 points. 
 
Also collecting All-NEWMAC honors for WPI were senior Caitlin Guilfoyle (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY), and graduate student Amelia Kokernak (Niskayuna, NY). Guilfoyle took 11th place overall in 23:51.3 to earn her second career conference honor. Kokernak nabbed her first NEWMAC honor with a 12th-place finish in 23:51.9. 
 
Graduate student Rachel Hurley (Peterborough, NH) and junior Elie Bowman (Montville, CT) rounded out the WPI top five. Hurley placed 20th overall in 23:42.6 and Bowman was right behind with a 24:44.9 to place 21st. 

Graduate students Elise Deshusses (Chapel Hill, NC) and Charlotte Kokernak (Niskayuna, NY) were next across the line, with just one runner separating them from Hurley and Bowman. Deshusses took 23rd place in 24:48.2 and Kokernak was 24th in 24:48.5.
 
Rounding out the WPI runners in the top half of the field were sophomores Beth Irwin (Guilderland, NY) andSophia Reynolds (Andover, NH), and senior Sarah Ossing (Catonsville, MD). Irwin was 40th in 25:26.7, Reynolds took 50th in 25:52.7, and Ossing was 57th in 26:26.3. 


Next for WPI is the NCAA Division III East Region Championship on Saturday, November 11. The event, hosted by Suffolk, will be contested in Hopkinton, NH.
 
Results