Emily Clarke was one of the five scorers for the Athenas, helping CMS to a third-place finish
Emily Clarke was one of the five scorers for the Athenas, helping CMS to a third-place finish
Posted: Sep 07, 2019

Women's Cross Country Opens Season with Third-Place Finish at Biola Invitational

FULLERTON, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's cross country team opened its 2019 season with a strong third-place showing out of 22 teams at the Biola Invitational on Saturday morning.

The Athenas, who are in pursuit of their 10th straight SCIAC title this season, finished with 137 points, finishing behind only scholarship programs CSU San Marcos (55 points) and UC San Diego (110 points). Host Biola was fourth with 179 points and Concordia Irvine finished fifth with 181. 

Individually, junior Dulcie Jones led the way for the Athenas by coming in 22nd place overall and 20th among collegiate competitors with a final time of 18:48.23. First-year Isabella Brusco and junior Abigail Johnson were back-to-back finishers in 25th and 26th place with times of 18:51.78 and 18:53.49, respectively. Also scoring for the Athenas were junior Olivia Gleason in 32nd place at 19:00.05 and sophomore Emily Clarke in 19:02.70, finishing 34th. 

CMS also showcased its impressive team depth, as eight other runners finished in the top 100 out of a field of 217 runners. Just behind the top five were sophomores Brooklyn Button and Sophie Gitli, who finished in 19:03.45 and 19:06.20, respectively, placing 39th and 40th overall (37th and 38th among college competitors). Senior Georgia Scherer gave the Athenas eight runners in the top 50 with a 19:15.15 to come in 46th place. 

Also in the top 100 were junior Jackie McVay (60th), first-year Anika Kimme (63rd), senior Alexandra Lambros (67th), junior Samantha Baker (69th), junior Delaney Hartmann (90th) and senior Gabriella Kimmerly (95th).

The winner of the race was a familiar competitor around CMS circles, as Bryn McKillop (CMC '18) was one of the non-collegiate competitors to compete and finished in 17:57.25 to win by almost 20 seconds. McKillop ended her collegiate career with a national championship in the 5000 meters during track and field season. 

CMS will be back in action next weekend when it competes in the UC Riverside Invitational.