ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- The Elizabethtown College women's cross country team had to wait a few weeks before finally competing on Saturday at the program's Blue Jay Alumni Challenge. E-town had three of the five fastest runners in the race and held off the former Jays by a point, 27-28. 2018 graduate Maria Anderson won the race.

Anderson, an All-Landmark XC performer during her time at Elizabethtown and now an assistant coach for the school dueled with Kernan, her former teammate, throughout the race. The two were the only two runners to break 15 minutes on Elizabethtown's home course, which had to be modified slightly due to the saturated grounds.

Anderson came through to the finish just ahead of Kernan in 14:45.48. Kernan, a senior, ran 14:46.90 to place second.

Olivia Gerstenbacher, making her Blue Jays' debut, was third in 15:32.00. Not far behind was Melissa Fitzgibbon, who crossed in 15:36.09 to place fourth.

The alumni had the next three spots thanks to Traci Tempone, Kathryn Howser, and Amelia Tearnan. Emily Nelson was eighth for the Jays and Brooklyne Wiley took tenth to finish the scoring for the current team.

Elizabethtown will take part in the Dickinson Long/Short Invitational next Saturday, beginning at 10:30 a.m. in Carlisle, Pa.