BUFFALO, N.Y. (9/23/2006)—Colgate University junior Elizabeth Kennedy (Towaco, N.J.) led the Raider cross country team to a third-place finish of 11 teams with a sixth-place performance in a strong field of runners at the University of Buffalo Stampede Invitational.

 

Kennedy turned in a 5k time of 19:03, nine seconds ahead of the seventh-place finisher. Her time on the 3.1 mile course is her fastest of the season by 15 seconds and bested her previous best time by one second.

 

Cornell won the overall meet with a low score of 20 and Central Michigan edged the Raiders in second with 68 points. Colgate finished the day with 75 total points, beating the host Bulls by 14 points.

 

Next across the line for the Raiders in 12th place was senior Liz Crowley (West Simsbury, Conn.) with a time of 19:27. She outran Central Michigan’s Jackie Rivard by half of a second to earn the 12th spot.

 

Sophomore Kristen Kiraly (Huntington, N.Y.) hit the tape in 19:57.70 to take 21st in the field of 117 runners. The Raiders had a pack of four pacing each other over the 5k course to round out the top seven scoring runners.

 

Seniors Hannah Failing (Deerfield, N.Y.) and Meaghan McAnaney (Syracuse, N.Y.), junior Kathryn Marvel (Williamsburg, Mass.) and sophomore Jessica Kielty (Depew, N.Y.) grabbed the 25th through 28th spots with just six seconds between them. Failing crossed the line in 20:09, while McAnaney was three seconds behind her in 20:12. Marvel and Kielty rounded out Colgate’s scoring group, finishing the race in 20:14 and 20:15.

 

Both McAnaney and Kielty dropped over 15 seconds from their previous best 5k time in 2006. It was Failing’s first race of the season and Marvel’s first 5k competition of the year.

 

Colgate will compete again on Oct. 7 at the Hamilton Invitational. The gun is set to go off at 11 a.m.