The Laurentian Lady Vees cross country team won the 20th annual Harry Anderson Invitational hosted by Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, New York on Saturday. The team was lead by individual champion Gracie Tetzlaf who ran a second straight personal best time of 18:41 for the five kilometre race.
The Lady Vees finished with 31 points; a full 25 points ahead of second place finisher University of Rochester. The meet which had seven NCAA Division III schools competing saw the Lady Vees have seven runners set personal bests, and shattered their previous best average team time 36 seconds.
Early on in the race the Lady Vees sent five runners into the lead pack including Tetzlaf (Trenton, Ont.), Emma Tallman (Mindemoya, Ont.) the eventual third place finisher, fourth place Madeleine Woods (Sudbury, Ont.), sixth place Maggie Robbins (Port Perry, Ont.), and Hillary Kilbreath (Belleville, Ont.) who finished in 17th.
Tetzlaff and silver medalist Michelle Brandt from Roberts Wesleyan College broke away from the group with Brant up by 10 meters.
Tetzlaff proved to have a strong finishing kick, with one kilometre to go she made her move surging past the tiring Brandt and taking the victory. Tallman and Woods raced for third place with Tallman edging out her teammate at the finish line.
"It's a lot of fun to bring home the team trophy and four top 10 t-shirts," said head coach Dick Moss in a release. "The girls really deserve it. They've been absolutely hammering their workouts this year, and our rookies have been competing like seasoned vets."
The Lady Vees had seven runners set personal bests on their way to the team title. Complete results are listed below:
The Lady Vees look to carry their momentum into their next OUA meet in London, Ontario, the Mustang Open on October 9.
Individual Results - Laurentian
1. Gracie Tetzlaff, 18:41.4 (Personal best)
3 Emma Tallman, 18:53.9 (Personal best)
4. Madeleine Woods, 18:58 (Personal best)
6. Maggie Robins, 19:36.6 (Personal best)
17. Hilary Kilbreath, 20:23.6 (Personal best)
21. Katie Maziarski, 20:41.3
23. Mathilde Demory, 20:46.8 (Personal best)
24. Danielle Henry, 20:52.9 (Personal best)
42. Celeste Woods, 21:41.2
43. Stephanie Flieler, 21:41.8
50. Jessica Nanne, 22:01.2
61. Becky Van Zeyl, 22:55.0
Team Scores
1. Laurentian, 31 Points - 1,3,4,6,17 (21,23)
2. U. of Rochester, 56 Points - 7,8,12,13,16 (18,19)
3. Roberts Wesleyan, 73 points - 2,5,9,24,33 (35, 36)
4. Damean College, 106
5. Geneseo State, 114
6. Penn State Altoona, 148
7. Medaille, 215
8. Hilbert College,232
