Wildcats finish as NECC runner-up, four notch career-best times
WATERFORD, CT - Behind career-best times from four runners, the Wheelock College women's cross country team took second place at the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship on Saturday in a meet hosted by Mitchell College at Harkness Memorial State Park. In their third season since being reestablished as a varsity team in 2008, the Wildcats scored 70 points in the eight-squad field, trailing only three-time league champion Lesley University's 15 points. Wheelock tied for second last season.
Senior captain Kelly Meehan (Salem, MA/Marblehead), juniors Liz Connolly (Belchertown, MA/Belchertown) and Sarah Negron (Northbridge, MA/Northbridge), and freshman Danielle Gaudette (Nashua, NH/Nashua South) all posted the fastest 5K times of their careers, while sophomore Cara McAuliffe's (Nashua, NH/Nashua South) was her quickest this fall.
While finishing just three spots short of all-conference qualification, Gaudette took 13th - and was the ninth scorer in the race - with a time of 23:13 to pace the Wheelock runners while being followed by freshman Jessica Ramsey (Milford, MA/Hopedale), who was 19th at 24:09 despite having last competed on Sept. 17. Connolly, Meehan and junior Maria Sideri (North Andover, MA/North Andover) finished within 17 seconds of one another, with Connolly 23rd in 25:03, Meehan 24th in 25:16 during her final collegiate race, and Sideri 25th at 25:20. The Wildcats' top runner at the past five meets, Sideri battled illness all week leading up to the race.
Negron was 28th by clocking in at 25:44, senior Caitlin Burke (Westboro, MA/Westboro) capped her career by taking 30th in 26:31, and McAuliffe was 37th in 27:37. Burke was just 16 seconds short of matching her best time this season.
