Women's Cross Country Finishes Second at CSU San Bernardino's Coyote Challenge

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Senior Malea Martin (seventh), senior Natalie Marsh (ninth) and sophomore Abigale Johnson (13th) each earned top 15 finishes in a 212-runner field to lead the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's cross country team to a second-place finish at the Coyote Challenge, hosted by CSU San Bernardino.

CSU San Marcos edged out the Athenas for first place with 68 points, just six ahead of CMS with 74, while UC San Diego was a close third with 82 out of the 20-team field. Host CSU San Bernardino was a distant fourth with 149 points, and Cal Poly Pomona was in fifth with 165. Redlands was the closest SCIAC competitor in tenth place with 256 points. 

Martin was one of eight runners in the field to come in under 18 minutes, as she crossed the line in 17:56.4 to earn her seventh-place finish, less than a second out of fifth place (Ericka Taylor of CSU Los Angeles in 17:55.8) and a second ahead of eighth (Marina McDonough in 17:57.4) in a tight four-runner pack. Martin was also fifth among collegiate competitors, as the top two finishers were both running unattached. Marsh finished in ninth in 18:03.1, just nosing out Michelle Pineda of the host Coyotes (18:03.2) and Arabella Reece of Chapman (18:03.5) in another three-person photo finish. 

Johnson was the third Athena across the line in 18:08.2 to come in 13th place overall (11th among college runners) with an 18:08.2. Sophomore Dulcie Jones (18:28.8, 22nd) and freshman Riley Harmon (18:34.5, 23rd) finished back-to-back to account for the fourth and fifth scorers on the team, giving the Athenas 74 total. 

Also in the top 50 for CMS were senior Morgan Blevins, who came in 28th place (18:39.7), senior Matilda Msall in 39th (18:56.4) and freshman Emily Clarke in 48th (19:05.5).

Eleven other Athenas were in the top 100 to place in the top half of the field: sophomore Georgia Scherer (53rd), sophomore Jackie McVay (60th), sophomore Olivia Gleason (63rd), freshman Chloe Taylor (65th), junior Laura Fleming (66th), freshman Brooklyn Button (70th), senior Olivia Palenscar (77th), junior Alexandra Lambros (78th), sophomore Sophie Liles (82nd), sophomore Samantha Baker (88th) and sophomore Delaney Hartmann (93rd). 

CMS will be back in action next Saturday when it travels to take part in the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto.