The Marymount University Saints made history recently by winning the Atlantic East Conference women’s cross-country championship for the first time.
The Saints won with 35 points, with Marywood University second at 56.
Marymount was led by individual winner Avery Finnegan. The junior finished first in 24:48 on the 6K course in Milton, N.Y., to earn conference Runner of the Year honors. She was one of three Marymount runners to finish in the top six, with five Saints among the first 14.
Third in the meet for Marymount was sophomore Brier Amerlinck (25:24.3). Mikayla Stephens, another sophomore, was sixth (26:59.8). Junior Gabrielle Weirsky was 11th (27:48.6) and junior Madeleine Pare 14th (27:58.0).
Also for Marymount, sophomore Abby Hughes was 17th (29:01.7) and sophomore Elizabeth Dellacorte 23rd (30:49.5).
Of those seven runners, only Dellacorte was not on the roster last season, when Marymount finished second in the conference meet.
The victory was the first of the season for Marymount in any meet. The team, led by first-year head coach Kameron Blanding, did not have a win in the regular season, when up to 25 teams can compete in a single meet.
Following the conference meet, Marymount moved on to the NCAA Division III South Regional meet in Clinton, Miss., and placed 14th. Amerlinck was the team’s top finisher in 24th. Finnegan was 47th.
As far as all-conference awards for the season, Finnegan was the Runner of the Year and Amerlinck was the Rookie of the Year.
