The women's cross country team survived a test of endurance on Saturday, outrunning 26 other teams to claim second place at the 41st annual University of Albany Cross Country Invitational. The Bears trailed first-place finisher Harvard by just 10 points.
Smita Gupta '08 and Ariel Wright '10 led the Bears to the finish line by placing second and third overall, respectively, on the 5,000-meter course. Gupta clocked in at 17:22.2 to take second place, while Wright followed right behind with a time of 17:31.1.
Craig Lake, director of the cross country and track and field programs, expressed pride in Gupta and Wright for proving themselves to be at the top of the pack.
"Smita and Ariel ran terrific races!" Lake wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. "Their times were extremely fast."
Lauren Pischel '11 and Caitlin Clark '11 also claimed spots in the top 20. Pischel placed 11th after recording a time of 17:56.7, and Clark finished 15th with a time of 18:11.5.
Megan Fitzpatrick '11, Kesley Ramsey '11 and Cara Harrison '11 also gave strong performances, finishing up for the Bears with times of 18:22.5, 18:26.0 and 18:47.9, respectively.
"Our women's team ran really well this weekend," Lake wrote, adding that the Bears performed well despite setbacks.
"We held out one of our top runners, Jenna Ridgway ('10), which will make us even stronger," she wrote. "We also have some injuries on the women's side in our top seven, which has hurt us a little depth-wise. We will need our fourth and fifth runners to step it up at Heps."
The Bears compete next at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships on Oct. 26 in Van Cortlandt Park in New York City.
