The women's cross-country team began to round out its season last Sunday with a sixth-place finish in the NESCAC Championships hosted by Trinity College at Wickham Park in Hartford, Connecticut. With some strong individual performances, the Bears look to be in peak performance for the New England Division III Championships in Cumberland, Maine on November 14.
Quick feet at the start propelled Bowdoin to a sixth-place finish in an 11-team field. Bowdoin was paced by senior Lindsay Hodge who grabbed 26th with a time of 23:13, and followed by first year Olivia MacKenzie with a 23:20 in 31st, junior Yasmine White with a 23:23 in 35th, and junior Christina Argueta in 37th with a 23:35.
"Lindsay attacked the uphills and she attacked the downhills," said Head Coach Peter Slovenski. "She brought a lot of mental toughness to the race."
The hilly 3.8 mile course at Wickham Park provided a challenge for the Polar Bears, but sunny weather and fresh legs afforded the Bears an opportunity to run a strategic race. Quick feet and a strong finish by MacKenzie, White, and Argueta, who all passed several runners on the final mile, helped solidify Bowdoin's sixth-place finish.
The runner of the day, however, was White. Though she had just returned from an injury, she pulled off her best race of the season. Her strong finish helped pull in the fifth, sixth and seventh spots for Bowdoin, and kept the team ahead of close-following Bates and Tufts in the standings.
"We're a much better team when Yasmine is running well. Her health is finally good and she has a lot of training momentum going into November," said Slovenski. "She has a great work ethic and she has a lot of poise as a competitor."
The Bears, with experience under their belt, will approach the New England Division III Championships in Cumberland, Maine, with the hopes of putting up a fight against some of the best teams in the NESCAC and beyond.
With the end of the season in sight, the team looks to be in peak conditioning and performance for November 14. With seven runners competing in Cumberland, the Bears look to put their best foot forward to end their season strong.