Natalie Bitetti Becomes Third Athena to Win SCIAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week
CLAREMONT, Calif. - Sophomore Natalie Bitetti earned the SCIAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week honor for events through Sunday, Oct. 3, the league office announced today.
Bitetti was the top CMS finisher to lead the Athenas to a dominant performance at the NCAA Division III Pre-Nationals in Kentucky. CMS earned 43 points to finish well ahead of second-place Wisconsin-La Crosse with 70 points, and Calvin in third with 153. Bitetti came in third place with a time of 22:00.9 to lead four CMS runners in the top 10, while becoming the fourth different top finisher for the Athenas in four different events this year.
Two of those runners also earned SCIAC Athlete of the Week honors after leading CMS to strong performances. Emily Clarke won it on Sept. 7 after helping the Athenas finish second at the Mark Covert Classic hosted by Cal State Fullerton (when Bitetti actually finished just one-tenth of a second behind her as they crossed the line in tandem). Meredith Bloss then won it on Sept. 20 after setting a new program record for fastest time in a 6K race while leading CMS to second place at the UC Riverside Invitational.
The Division III Pre-Nationals were held at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park, on the same course that will be the host site for the NCAA Division III Championships on Nov. 20. The Athenas made a statement that they will be one of the contenders in that race with a strong effort on Saturday, with Bitetti finishing third, Riley Harmon fourth, Bloss seventh and Clarke ninth.
CMS will compete in Claremont for the first time this season when it runs on Saturday at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational. The same course will be used for both the SCIAC Championships on Oct. 30, and the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 13.