Cool conditions yield quick times for women

Cornell's No. 10 regionally-ranked women's cross country team thrived under ideal running conditions and placed ninth in a large 27-team field at Augustana's Brissman-Lundeen Invitational Friday at Saukie Golf Course.

The Rams scored 223 team points and had a number of individuals set personal records at the 6K distance. Senior Allie Jagielo was among four Rams to crack the top 60, placing 22nd out of 323 competitors.

"We had a lot of good individual performances at Augustana," Cornell head coach Dan Schofer said. "Most of our women took advantage of the fast course and cool weather to post really strong times. Five of our top seven women ran lifetime bests, and the other two were within just a few seconds of their PRs."

Jagielo was Cornell's lead runner for the third consecutive meet. She covered the course in 23 minutes, 7.6 seconds. Junior Elise Mead came in 36th with a mark of 23:34. She was followed by junior Leslie Smebak in 50th (23:49), sophomore Laura Ettlin in 56th (23:54) and freshman Hannah Garvey in 74th (24:14).

Rounding out the team's starting seven was junior Maria Helgeson in 94th place (24:38) and sophomore Claudia Gonzalez taking 110th (24:56).

"Allie did another great job up front for us," Schofer said. "Leslie Smebak and Hannah Garvey also ran really strong races, and again, Maria Helgeson was awesome. She ran a PR of nearly two minutes on Friday."

The Rams travel to Memphis, Tenn., Saturday to compete in the Rhodes College Invitational. Another lengthy road trip awaits Oct. 15 in La Crosse, Wis., the team's final meet before the Iowa Conference Championships Oct. 29 in Decorah.

"As we head into October, we need to keep up our focus. This group is poised to do big things. I know the team is looking forward to our block break trip to Memphis this weekend," Schofer said. "The strength of our women's team is our depth, and we haven't yet put that together with a great team race so far this season. I know as we continue to train well, we will be more consistent from top to bottom."