BRONX, N.Y. (11/18/2006)—The Colgate University cross country team had five runners finish in the top 15 at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship this afternoon to capture the program’s first ECAC title at Van Cortlandt Park. The Raiders beat Patriot League rival Bucknell University with a low score of 47 points on the day.

 

“We’re very excited about the results today,” head coach Laura Nardelli said. “It is a great for our five seniors here today to finish. We’re very proud of the way they and the entire team ran today.”

 

Sophomore Kristen Kiraly (Huntington, N.Y.) continued her stellar season by leading the Raiders in third place overall with a 5k time of 18:34. That bested her previous best of the season time by 28 seconds.

Next across the line for Colgate in seventh place was senior Meaghan McAnaney (Syracuse, N.Y.). McAnaney dropped 20 seconds from her time last season, hitting the tape in 18:50.

 

Senior Liz Crowley (West Simsbury, Conn.), sophomore Jessica Kielty (Depew, N.Y.), and senior Hannah Failing (Deerfield, N.Y.) all paced each other, crossing the line just three places apart.

 

Crowley ran 19:01 for 11th place overall, while Kielty was right on her heels at 19:07 for 12th, 1:46 faster than her run in 2005. Failing covered the 5k course in 19:11 for the 14th spot.

 

All of the Raiders’ top five runners earned all-East honors for finishing among the top-15, a first for the Colgate women’s cross country program.

 

Caitlin English () ran a 19:19 5k in her first ECAC Championship meet for 20th place and junior Kathryn Marvel (Williamsburg, Mass.) finished the race in 20:06, eight seconds quicker than last year.

 

Colgate finished an outstanding season after moving up four spots from 2005 with a third-place finish at the Patriot League Championship and up seven places at the NCAA Regional Championship after taking 17th of 34.