The women’s cross country team met stiff competition at the New England Championship this weekend, coming in 11th out of 51 teams.
Despite the odds, Madelena Rizzo ’14 managed to finish 22nd, crossing the line with a fast-enough time to join the All-New England team for the second year in a row.
According to Coach Peter Slovenski, this race was particularly tough, and Rizzo showed incredible poise in her performance.
Olivia Mackenzie ’13 faced an unprecedented obstacle during the race. Impressively, she was in 12th place at the 4000 meter mark, two-thirds of the way through the race. In the next 1000 meters, she began to feel light-headed and lost three places. In the final 400 meters, Mackenzie was beginning to pass out and had to break her pace to finish, coming in as Bowdoin’s second runner, at 57th place.
“For four years Olivia always came through for the cross-country team. She’s so tough that she kept running even after she had basically passed out, and finished as our team’s second runner. It was an incredibly courageous finish,” said Slovenski.
Adding to her notable first-year season, Lucy Skinner finished as Bowdoin’s third runner, in 68th place. First year Gina Stalica finished as Bowdoin’s fourth runner.
Following up with her success at the NESCAC Championship, Brenna Fischer ’15 finished in the top five in this race, moving up from her usual position as the team’s seventh or eighth fastest runner.