DARTMOUTH, Mass. – On a beautiful morning on the Corsairs course, Emily Manfra powered the Suffolk women's cross country team to a 12th-place performance behind an individual first-place finish at the 47th annual UMass Dartmouth Invitational Saturday.
Manfra was the fastest runner in a pack of 263, which included Division II counterparts. The senior's crown came behind an impressive 17:51.72 5k time, 6.51 faster than runner-up Kialeigh Marston of Assumption.
Rams' rookies Marin Stamer and Savannah Goddeeris clock in just over 20 minutes. The former came through the chute in 20:08.40 for 64th, while the latter crossed the finish line 3.76 seconds later to claim 67th.
Suffolk sophomore Olivia Chilcott put together a time of 20:50.42, good for 101st. Chilcott's classmate, Meagan Dyer grabbed 151st behind 21:38.73 performance.
The blue-and-gold's top five runners averaged a 20:08.29 5k to finish 12th overall in the field of 37 teams, the program's highest finish at the annual event in recent history. Suffolk's team score also was the best among its GNAC foes at the invitational, which included Regis (18th), Saint Joseph's (Maine) (22nd), Emmanuel (26th) and Lasell (32nd).
Skyler Spanbauer (21:48.23), Natalie Fay (22:09.65) and Sarah Lawton (23:04.25) competed on the varsity course as well with Michaela Casey (23:54.21) and Michelle Riley (24:04.76) running the junior varsity event.
Suffolk takes a week off before heading back to Keene, New Hampshire for the Keene State College Invitational Saturday, Oct. 5.
