BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College women's cross country squad placed first in the team standings by a point in the Moravian/Cedar Crest Invitational run at Bicentennial Park in Bethlehem Friday evening.
The Greyhounds were first of nine teams, edging York College of Pennsylvania by a point, 28-29, in part to taking the top two spots and three of the top five. The Spartans placed all five of their scoring runners in the top 10 but by taking three of the top five, Moravian would win the meet.
Junior Katie Mayer won the 6,000-meter race in a time of 24:22.5 while junior Carly Danoski was second of the 80 runners in 24:27.1. Sophomore Natalie Novotni placed fifth in 24:36.4 while freshman Rachel McCoach finished in eighth with a time of 25:04.5. Senior Alyssa Limbaugh took 13th in a time of 25:25.1 to clinch the won for the Greyhounds while rounding out the Blue and Grey's top seven were freshman Natalie Stabilito in 14th place with a time of 25:25.8 and freshman Mackenzie Heitz in 16th at 25:47.6.
Moravian had five other runners finish in the top 30 including freshman Hannah Graybeal in 18th place in 26:05.5, sophomore Molly Talarico at 19th in 25:05.6, freshman Santina Burak n 20th with a time of 26:06.1, sophomore Rachel Mikols at 21st in 26:11.0 and junior Marlee Hornbaker in 28th in 26:46.0.
"We talked going in about how York would be a good match up and barometer for us since they can be a top 10 team in our region this year," stated Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jesse Baumann. "We got out a little quick, but our front three maintained their composure and held up well with some strong runners. Some of our freshmen had great races in their first 6k race so that was a quality experience for them. We had a few of our top seven plagued with some injuries but once healthy, I'm excited about how we're doing. Runners like Alyssa Limbaugh, Rachael McCoach, Natalie Novotni, and Katie Mayer were among just a few with big breakthroughs so it was a strong day."
Moravian is scheduled to return to action on Saturday, September 29 in the annual Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University.
