WATERFORD, Conn. – The No. 9-ranked Carleton College women's cross country team headed east to race against top-level competition at the Connecticut College Invitational. The Knights finished seventh out of 33 teams in a field that included 16 nationally ranked programs.
 
"This was an amazing experience to compete with the top D-III runners in the country," said Carleton head coach Donna Ricks. "It provided an opportunity to see how this young team would respond in a race of this caliber."
 
The top-five ranked teams in the country finished in the top-five spots in the standings. No. 2 Williams totaled 73 points, followed by No. 5 MIT (97 points), No. 3 Johns Hopkins (113), No. 4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (158), and No. 1 NYU (179). No. 13 Middlebury edged Carleton for sixth place, 192 to 201. Meet host Connecticut College finished eighth with 230 points.
 
Senior Hannah Preisser returned to the Knights' lineup and placed sixth overall out of 261 finishers. She crossed the line at 21:02.42. First-year Claire Vukovics was next to finish for Carleton, covering the six-kilometer distance in 21:33.66 to place 29th. Senior Aliya Larsen finished 49th with a time of 21:57.52, while rookie Lauren Tittel took 59th at 22:08.13. First-year Amelia Campbell rounded out the scoring, crossing the line in 65th place with a time of 22:17.31.
 
"Races like this go out aggressively," Ricks said. "It is important to get off the line, to know when to settle, and to be fully engaged due to the congestion of runners. You have to be ready to move when there is an opening. The athletes did a tremendous job overall and provided Laura and I with insight in regards to adjusting race strategies."
 
While Carleton's top runners competed in the Constitution State, four other Knights stayed closer to home and raced at the Haunted Hustle on the Hill. Carleton did not post a team score at that meet.
 
Madeleine Reckmeyer competed in the first 6-kilometer race of her college career and placed 12th overall at 25:01.4. Sierra Cherniavsky crossed the line at 25:35.2, and improvement of 19 seconds over her last time racing this course. She placed 18th. Cynthia Niaz had an even larger time drop, besting her previous standard on the St. Olaf course by 70 seconds as she finished at 26:47.6 to take 27th place.  Celia Lehmann Duke was the other Carleton entrant, finishing 41st with a time of 28:58.6.
 
"This gave us a great experience as we turn our focus to the championship season," said Carleton assistant coach Laura Albares.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton heads to the MIAC Championships which will be held at the Highland 9 Cross Country Trailhead in St. Paul on Saturday, Nov. 1. The starting gun for the women's race is scheduled to go off at 12:00 p.m.