NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA- At the UMass Dartmouth Shriners Women's Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, the Lasell College Lasers put in some impressive performances, including personal best runs by seniors Meghan Missett (Lowell, MA) and Amanda Driscoll (Roslindale, MA) on the 5K course against top regional and national competition.
The Lasers faced off against five Top 10 Regionally ranked NCAA Division II and III institutions in the cross-divisional meet. MIT earned top honors as a team, with 25 points, and the top female runner, Brooke Johnson, who completed the course in 17:54.35. MIT is ranked 5th nationally in DIII as of the latest USTFCCCA Coaches Polls, as well as 3rd in the New England Region. Finishing second in the meet was Coast Guard followed by Wellesley, ranked 7th in DIII New England, and Brandeis, ranked 10th in New England, in 3rd and 4th place respectively.
UMass Lowell and Bentley College, Division II institutions ranked 4th and 3rd in the DII East Region Poll respectively, came in 6th and 7th place as a team in the Invitational.
Lasell, who finished 26th overall in the race, also matched up against three other Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) schools in the meet, falling just shy of Emmanuel in the 25th spot, while beating out Johnson & Wales (27th) and Anna Maria (37th) at the meet.
For the Lasers, Missett was the leader, crossing the finish line in 20 minutes and 25.01 seconds, good for 75th place individually. Missett removed 20 seconds from her previous personal best run of 20:45, which took place last season in the Pop Crowell Invitational.
Freshman Amy Santella (Cheshire, MA) came in not far behind Missett at 20:54.80 while fellow first year runner for Lasell Jess Smith (Townsend, MA) and Driscoll ended the race back-to-back in 22:15.64 and 22:17.17. Driscoll chopped 20 seconds off her prior best run of 22:37, which, like Missett's time, was also recorded last season at the Pop Crowell Invitational.
Christina Annicelli (North Easton, MA) and Alaina Eldredge (Sandford, ME) made their way across the ending line at 24:09.20 and 29:00.45 to finish off the recording times for Lasell.
The Lasers next meet will be at the Elms Blazers Invitational on Saturday, September 27th.