ALBANY, N.Y. - The Marist women's cross country team placed fifth out of 23 teams in the Championship Race of the UAlbany Invitational on Saturday. The Red Foxes were once again led by freshman Michelle Gaye (Greenlawn, N.Y.), who placed ninth in 18:05.3.
Senior Addie DiFrancesco (Waterbury, Conn.) turned in her best performance of the season with a 15th-place finish in 18:24.7. Freshman Brianna Freestone (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) and junior Jackie Gamboli (Stony Point, N.Y.) also turned in season-best performances.
In the Gold Race, Marist placed second out of six teams and placed three runners in the top eight and 12 in the top 25. Senior Dayna McLaughlin (Stony Point, N.Y.), sophomore Tara Nuccitelli (Suffern, N.Y.) and junior Colleen Smith (Syracuse, N.Y.) finished sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
The Marist women's cross country team will return to action on Friday, Oct. 28 at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship, which will be held at Van Cortlandt Park.
UAlbany Invitational
Championship Race (5,000 meters)
Team results: 1-New Hampshire 29; 2-Middlebury 64; 3-Albany 91; 4-McGill 103; 5-Marist 120; 6-Sacred Heart 169; 7-Canisius 251; 8-Binghamton 291; 9-Hartford 294; 10-Brandeis 299; 11-Adelphi 330; 12-St. Francis 398; 13-Ramapo 417; 14-Springfield 418; 15-Niagara 423; 16-St. Bonaventure 441; 17-C.W. Post 473; 18-Keene State 477; 19-Siena 483; 20-Daemen 530; 21-Molloy 579; 22-Fairleigh Dickinson 633; 23-LIU 715.
Individual Marist results: 9-Michelle Gaye 18:05.3; 15-Addie DiFrancesco 18:24.7; 24-Erin Thompson 18:40.1; 32-Katie Messina 18:52.3; 45-Brianna Freestone 19:15.5; 47-Briana Crowe 19:17.0; 53-Jackie Gamboli 19:25.0; 59-Rebecca Denise 19:36.5; 61-Erin O'Reilly 19:39.2; 87-Megan Brady 20:22.4; 111-Kathryn Sheehan 20:50.0.
UAlbany Invitational
Gold Race (5,000 meters)
Team results: 1-Middlebury 18; 2-Marist 37; 3-Sacred Heart 89; 4-Keene State 100; 5-Hartford 123; 6-Springfield 166.
Individual Marist results: 6-Dayna McLaughlin 20:03.4; 7-Tara Nuccitelli 20:08.8; 8-Colleen Smith 20:12.6; 11-Kara Lightowler 20:27.0; 12-Elizabeth O'Brien 20:28.5; 14-Alexandra Davis 20:39.5; 16-Laura Lindsley 20:51.1; 17-Allyson O'Brien 20:58.2; 18-Rachel Lichtenwalner 21:00.2; 22-Kelley Hanifin 21:13.6; 24-Kimberly Bartlett 21:27.0; 25-Miy Mahran 21:38.8.
