KEENE, N.H. – The Brandeis University women's cross country team excelled at the 2014 Keene State Invitational on Saturday morning, producing a second-place team finish as well as the top two individual finishers.
The Brandeis women were just behind host Keene State in a group of 14 teams. The Owls finished with 34 points, while the Judges had 53. Brandeis's top five runners were among the top 21 finishers, running with a spread of 1:26.
For the second time this season, sophomore Maddie Dolins (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) was the team's top finisher, earning her first collegiate victory. Dolins, who placed third in 2013, moved up to the top spot on the podium by shaving eight seconds off her time to cover the five-kilometer course in 18:46. It marked the eighth time in 10 collegiate races that Dolins has finished among the top 10 in a race, with six of those performances in the top five. Right behind Dolins for the second week in a row was junior Kelsey Whitaker (Kingston, Mass./Notre Dame Acad.), who finished in 18:54. It was 10 seconds faster than her performance in 2013 and marked her sixth top-10 finish in 15 career races.
Sophomore Lydia McCaleb (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) placed third for the team for the second straight meet. She placed 14th with a time of 19:44. Sophomore Ashley Piccirillo-Horan (North Granby, Conn./Granby Memorial) was 21st overall in 20:07, down two spots and 21 seconds from a year ago at Keene State. Rookie Kyra Shreeve (Northborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional) filled out the scoring spots as the team's fifth runner for the second meet in a row. She placed 21st in 20:12.
Juniors Maggie Hensel (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) and Molly Paris (Falmouth, Mass./Falmouth) in 31st and 38th rounded out the top seven with times of 20:47 and 21:00, respectively.
The Judges return to action in two weeks to compete at the Connecticut College Invitational.