CMS Women's Cross Country Unanimous Pick to Continue Streak of SCIAC Titles

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The CMS women's cross country team was picked to finish first in the SCIAC in a preseason poll of the league's coaches, the conference office announced today.

The Athenas were a unanimous selection to win the league amongst the coaches, earning all nine first place votes. If the prediction comes to fruition, CMS would win its 12th straight SCIAC title, after winning the entire decade of the 2010s, and then dominating a year ago after a one-year pandemic hiatus, capturing five of the top six finishers. 

After winning the SCIAC title last year, the Athenas went on to finish second at the NCAA Championships, its highest finish in program history. CMS came within mere seconds of winning a national title, finishing just two points behind Johns Hopkins in one of the closest team battles in NCAA history. 

Leading the way in the quest to repeat are All-Americans Meredith Bloss and Natalie Bitetti. Bloss was also the SCIAC Athlete of the Year after winning the individual title at last year's SCIAC Championship, and was the top finisher for the Athenas at nationals (13th). Bitetti, meanwhile, earned the SCIAC Newcomer of the Year honor and came in 16th place at nationals, giving CMS two top-20 national finishers to build around in 2022. 

The Athenas did graduate three of its seven runners at nationals, including All-Americans Riley Harmon and Emily Clarke, and All-SCIAC Sophie Gitlin, who was the fifth scorer for CMS at the NCAA Championships. Returning from the NCAA contingent, though, are Angie Gushue, who was a first-team All-SCIAC performer with a ninth-place league finish, and Laura Zimmer, who made it on the second-team after finishing 12th. Mallorie Jenne was also a second-team All-SCIAC selection after coming in 13th and will be a strong candidate to move up into the top five this year. 

Three other returning runners were in the top 30 at the SCIAC Championships, and could make a push to be in the postseason contingent this fall: Amelia G. Opsahl finished 24th, Anika Kimme was 25th and Megan Maley came in 28th. 

CMS will open its 2022 season at the Redlands Invitational on Sept. 3. The Athenas will compete in Claremont on Oct. 8 at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational, and will head to Prado Park for the SCIAC Championships on Oct. 29. The NCAA Regionals this year will be in Spokane, Washington on Nov. 12, where CMS will try to make its 14th straight trip to nationals, which will be held in Lansing, Michigan.