Middlebrook Places Second, Women’s XC Finishes 4th At NEAC’s

MARCY, N.Y. – Junior Emily Middlebrook (Newark, N.Y.) placed second overall as an individual as the Wells College women's cross country team posted a fourth place finish against the 11 team field at the North Eastern Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships Saturday morning on the campus of SUNY Institute of Technology. The Express were the only team to boast two runners in the top-five places across the 5K course.

Middlebrook, a two-time first place finisher at the NEAC Championship, placed second overall in the field of 84 runners with a time of 20:42 and trailed only Morrisville State's Billie Jo Hinds by five seconds. In the race, Middlebrook ran at a 6:40/mile pace across the 5K course. Freshman Deaven Theriault (Ludlow, Mass.) completed the course in 21:01, ranking fifth amongst the field and second on the Express.

Theriault and Middlebrook have finished within the top-10 for the second consecutive race – no other Wells tandem had accomplished that feat prior to the Cross Country Only Championshops held on Sat., Oct. 19 of this season. For their efforts, Middlebrook and Theriault each earn NEAC First Team All-Conference – Theriault is only the second runner in program history, after Middlebrook, to earn First Team merits from the conference.

Sophomore Katie Lamanna (Constableville, N.Y.) was the third Wells runner within the top-15, placing 13th with a time of 22:16 while running at a 7:10/mile pace. Lamanna picked up NEAC Second Team All-Conference honors only a year removed from winning Third Team All-Conference merits as a freshman.

Junior Anastasia Benson (Rockford, Ill.) was the fourth finisher from Wells to cross the finish line, clocking in at 24:09 while freshman Jenn VanWormer (Phoenix, N.Y.) was 34th overall for the Express with a time of 24:44.

Junior Veronica Frisenda (Patterson, Calif.) recorded a time of 26:33 while freshman Bailey Brown (Marcy, N.Y.) turned in a time of 28:36. Rounding out the finishers for the Express were junior Paige Fralick (Mexico, N.Y.) and freshman Macy Smolsky (Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) with times of 30:28 and 31:45, respectively.