SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Endicott women’s cross country team travelled to Western New England University this weekend and returned with a sixth place finish at the WNE Invitational. Nineteen teams competed in the 5k event, with the Gulls taking sixth on 228 points.
 
Kim Shepherd (Essex, Conn.) continued to establish herself as a top runner this year by finishing as the top Endicott runner in 26^th place with a time of 20:56. Not far behind her was sophomore Jillian Mendes (Waterbury Center, Vt.), who took 37^th in the 191 runner field (21:18), followed by senior Brittany Plante (Nashua, N.H.), whose 22:05 was good for 59^th place.
 
Freshman Jocelyn Kane (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and senior Deanna Slobin (Old Saybrook, Conn.) rounded out the top five finishers for the Gulls. Kane took 72^nd place (22:31) followed closely by Slobin in 76^th (22:43).
 
The event was won by Westfield State, who finished with just 30 points and had the winner Amy Trainque and four of the top five finishers. Two Worcester schools, WPI and Clark, finished second and third, respectively.
 
On the men’s side, sixteen teams competed, represented by 176 runners. Endicott freshmen Alex Walecka (Dartmouth, Mass.) placed 108^th, while fellow first year Kevin Duffy (Reading, Mass.) took 162^nd.
 
The Gulls will now prepare for the CCC Championship Invitational, which will be held in two weekends, on October 29^th.