Women's Cross Country Landmark Champions 102718

Women's cross country wins fifth consecutive championship

LEBANON, Pa. -- Saturday's Landmark Championship race hosted by Elizabethtown College was the closest the conference had seen in 12 years. The Elizabethtown College women's cross country team won their fifth straight Landmark title, edging Moravian by four points, 42-46, at Union Canal Tunnel Park in rainy and windy conditions.

The top three runners finished within ten seconds of each other after spending a majority of the race in a small pack. Natalie Novotni won the women's 6k race in 22:58.60 and was later named the Performer of the Year. The Greyhounds' lead runner was then followed by a pair of Blue Jays. Olivia Gerstenbacher ran a personal best 23:01.42 to earn All-Landmark First Team honors as the race's runner up. Colleen Kernan was next, in third, in a time of 23:08.59.

Kaitlin Donahue tied her career best finish with a fifth-place run on Saturday as she earned her second consecutive spot on the First Team. Donahue ran 23:24.58, just behind Juniata's Azia Kalil (fourth place).

Moravian and E-town each placed three runners in the top 10 as the Greyhounds were 1, 6, and 10, while the Jays were 2, 3, and 5. EC had the advantage through the first three runners. Melissa Fitzgibbon and Emma Ager helped seal the championship win with their finishes. Fitzgibbon was 14th in 24:02.89 to take the final spot on the All-Landmark Second Team. Ager was 18th in a new personal best 6k time of 24:13.26. Moravian's Natalie Stabilito, the eventual Landmark Rookie of the Year, placed 12th and Molly Talarico was 17th. While, in total, Moravian fared better in the totals of their remaining two runners as compared to Elizabethtown, having three of the top five helped EC edge the Greyhounds by a slim four-point margin.

Head coach Brian Falk and his assistants Zack Krieger and Maria Anderson were named the Coaching Staff of the Year. It is the 12th straight conference crown for the women's program overall.
 
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