ALBANY, N.Y. - Competing against a field littered with top-flight NCAA Division III squads as well as some NCAA Division I teams, the Plattsburgh State women's cross country team turned in an eighth-place finish at the 48th annual UAlbany Invitational on Saturday morning.
Middlebury captured the team championship by collecting just 48 points and putting all five of its point producing runners in the top 15. Albany, the host institution, checked in with a runner-up finish by amassing 70 points while Binghamton (118 points) rounded out the top three.
Senior and defending SUNYAC Runner of the Week and ECAC DIII Upstate Co-Runner of the Week Katie Ehmann was the top finisher for the Cardinals. The Kingston, N.Y., product corralled a top-ten finish for the second straight week, finishing eighth in a time of 18:39 along the five-kilometer course.
First-year student-athlete Haley Mooney was the second Plattsburgh State finisher of the day. The freshman narrowly missed out on a top-20 finish, but did place 22nd in a time of 19:27. Mooney was the fourth freshman to cross the finish line in the field of of 110 runners.
Sophomore Morgan Deming traveled the five-kilometer course in a 57th-place time of 20:16 to become the third Plattsburgh State finisher of the day.
Following Deming closely were sophomore Megan Schweizer (20:22) and freshman Lindsey Davenport (20:25) who finished 60th and 62nd respectively to round out the Plattsburgh State scoring contingent.
Five other Cardinals took part in the meet including Amanda Joskow (70th, 20:36), Lauren Perschetz (71st, 20:42), Emma Deshaies (89th, 21:13), Tiffani Love (100th, 22:12) and Brianna Bessette (102nd, 22:25).
With its 2014 regular season in the books, the Plattsburgh State squad will enjoy a two-week break before heading to The College at Brockport to race in the SUNYAC Cross Country Championship meet. The conference race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1.
