The women's cross country team finished second out of 11 teams this past Saturday at the Maine State Meet. Colby edged out Bowdoin with a three-point victory in the close 5K race.
The NCAA has Colby ranked No. 21 this year, marking the third year in a row the Mules have been a top-25 team.
Madelena Rizzo '14 and Olivia MacKenzie '13 earned All-State honors, thanks to their respective third- and fourth-place finishes. Captain Anna Ackerman '12 placed eighth, Chantal Croteau '12 finished 11th, and Melissa DellaTorre '14 was 18th.
Croteau's performance particularly impressed Head Coach Peter Slovenski.
"Chantal has a lot of track speed, but it really helped our team that she was also so physically strong and mentally tough on a hilly course," he said.
Ackerman noted that there were multiple notable performances on Saturday.
"We had some very brave competitors—specifically Cayla Liptak '14 and Natalie Smid '15—who took nasty falls in the woods, but got right back up and persevered through the finish," she said.
"We ran well throughout the lineup," said Slovenski. "Our depth is improving and it was a terrific day to finish that close to Colby. They have been a top-25 NCAA team for the past three years, and now we know we can run into the top 25 too," he said.
"The team really came together to be successful and, as a whole, showed strength and resilience on a hilly course," said captain Lindsey Horowitz '12.
Bowdoin has this weekend off, and will compete in the NESCAC Championship at Amherst the following weekend.
-Compiled by Andres Botero.