WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Lesley University women's cross country team ran to a third place finish at the New England Collegiate Conference Championships on a cool fall morning today at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass.

Regis College had the top three finishers in the race and claimed their first championship in program history with 36 total points while Southern Vermont College earned 49 points to place second. The Lynx garnered 54 points in a tight race at the top before Elms claimed fourth place with 97 points. Defending champion Wheelock College took fifth place with while Mitchell College followed in sixth. Newbury College and Bay Path University, respectively, rounded out the field.

The Lynx saw nine runners set new personal-records on the day, led by senior Amy Bouchard (Goffstown, N.H.) who ran to NECC First Team honors with a time of 20:37, good enough for a seventh place overall finish.

Junior Jordan Penney (Eliot, Maine) and sophomore Nicole Footer (Lewiston, Maine) finished ninth and tenth, respectively, crossing at 20:59 and 21:05 to earn NECC Second Team honors. Senior Hannah Levensailor (Ayer, Mass.) joined Penney and Footer on the Second Team with a twelfth place finish and time of 21:19.

Fellow senior Sydney Altschuler (Durham, Conn.) cruised to a career-best finish of 22:17 while freshman Kimberly Eldredge (Kingston, Mass.) followed at 23:59. Junior Alex Dimauro (Woburn, Mass.) followed closely behind Eldredge and crossed at 23:51 while senior Abbey Coppinger (Moultonborough, N.H.) crossed the line at 23:57. Freshman Kayla Ranere (Danbury, Conn.) and sophomore Anne Cooper (Harvard, Mass.) finished at 24:58 and 25:00, respectively, while fellow sophomore Beth Caronna (Longmeadow, Mass.) crossed at 26:54.

Juniors Sarah Campisi (Saco, Maine) and Caitlin Sugrue (Rockland, Mass.) rounded out Lesley's efforts with respective times of 27:36 and 30:47.

The Lynx will be back in action at Stanley Park once again next Saturday for the NCAA Division III New England Championships.