WESTFIELD, Mass.- The Endicott women's cross country team traveled to Westfield, Mass. on Saturday to compete in the James Early Invitational and accomplished a new team best with a sixth place finish in the 39 team field. The Gulls have a short week this week as they look to compete in the Saints Invitational at Franklin Park in Boston, Mass. on Friday.

Endicott was led by freshmen Abigail Keim (Williston, Vt.) and Samantha Pearl (Concord, N.H.) who continue to impress in their debut seasons. Keim finished 33^rd individually in the 409 runner field, crossing the line in a time of 19:53.36 over the 5k course. Pearl was right on her heels, crossing  just over five seconds after in a time of 19:58.46.

Sophomore Kelly O'Neill (Cumberland, R.I.) was just behind, closing her 5k run in a time of 20:06.20. Her new personal record helped her finish in 45^th place overall. Lauren Tocci (Shamong, N.J.) finished extremely strong to post a time of 20:30.04 to end in 62^nd place.

The next three Endicott runners, freshmen Maeve Kelly (Washingtonville, N.Y.) and Hannah Mason (Deerfield, N.H.) and senior Holly Rigoli (Waltham, Mass.) all ran sub-22 minute 5ks as they all posted personal best times on the historically difficult course. Kelly finished 94^th overall in a time of 20:59.70, her firs time cracking 21 minutes, while Rigoli finished in 109^th place with a time of 21:11.75 as Mason was just behind, ending up in 116^th place after registering a 21:17.60 time.

INSIDE THE TIMES

• Keim, Peal and O'Neill finished 1-2-3 for the Gulls for the second straight race. In the Gulls last race at the Bowdoin Invitational, Keim finished 11^th, Pearl 18^th and O'Neill 19^th.
• In terms of Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) competition, Endicott finished second out of seven teams in the race, behind only the University of New England, the team champion in the race.

TOP QUOTE

"The women continued to race smart and confident in their first large race of the season," stated head coach Spencer Lange as the women continue to improve every week. "I'm very impressed with how they managed to work together in such a large field. It was important to get this experience for regionals which is coming up quickly. It was great to see season best times by all of the top seven women, including six personal records overall. They have been focused all season and approach these races with a confidence that is encouraging to see in such a young team."

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott travels to Boston, Mass. for a rare weekday race as they will compete at the Saints Invitational at Franklin Park. Following that, Endicott will have just over two weeks to prepare for the CCC Championships to be held on Saturday, October 31. 

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