Defending Champs Start Well at Haverford

HAVERFORD, Pa. - In its first meet of the season, the Villanova women's cross country team had nine runners in action at the Main Line Invitational, held on the Alumni Course at Haverford College early Thursday evening. Senior Amanda Marino (Jackson, N.J.) won the three-mile race with a time of 16:48.1.

Marino and junior Bogdana Mimic (Pancevo, Serbia) crossed the finish line together with nearly identical times and were six seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Mimic registered a time of 16:48.58 and senior Ali Smith (Columbia, Md.) rounded out the first three Villanova runners with a time of 16:54.62.

"It felt really good today," Marino said. "We just ran nice and controlled and tried to pick it up a little bit as the race went on. Today was really about getting used to racing again because next week we fly out to Notre Dame. It was good for us to have kind of a practice race so we can go from here and get ready for next week."

On a warm and humid afternoon, the Wildcats showed some of the potential that has them ranked No. 1 in the nation to begin the season. Villanova had all nine of its runners finish in the top 12, including having each of the top six finishers.

Freshman Emily Lipari (Greenvale, N.Y.) was in fourth place and was followed by seniors Sarah Morrison (Chambersburg, Pa.) and Callie Hogan (Bay Shore, N.Y.) in fifth and sixth, respectively.

That group was followed by freshman Nicky Akande (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and sophomore Meghan Smith (Newark, Del.) in eighth and ninth place, while senior Kaitlin O'Sullivan (Gansevoort, N.Y.) was 12th overall.

There was no team scoring at Thursday's race, which included runners from six different local schools.

Next up for the Wildcats is the Notre Dame Invitational next Friday (October 1st) beginning at 2 p.m. on the Notre Dame Golf Course.


Main Line Invite (3 Miles)

1 - Amanda Marino (16:48.10)
2 - Bogdana Mimic (16:48.58)
3 - Ali Smith (16:54.62)
4 - Emily Lipari (17:21.41)
5 - Sarah Morrison (17:33.99)
6 - Callie Hogan (17:59.98)
8 - Nicky Akande (18:31.60)
9 - Meghan Smith (18:33.35)
12 - Kaitlin O'Sullivan (18:56.31)