The strength of a strong pack kept the women’s cross country team undefeated for another week. The Bombers won their third-straight meet yesterday at the Highlander Invitational at Houghton College, defeating an eight-team field with a score of 27 points.

Empire 8 rival Rochester Institute of Technology finished second followed by host Houghton.

Once again, freshman Jenn Randall led the Bombers over the pancake flat five kilometer course, finishing second in a personal record time of 18:47.  

After the top five runners had crossed the line, the outcome of the meet seemed uncertain for the first time this season. Kaitlin Fadden of Houghton won the race in 18:21 and teammate Danielle Brenon took third place followed by senior Amanda Boccio (19:14) and a runner from RIT. However, after a 10 second gap, a pack of four Ithaca runners stormed in to put the meet away for the Bombers.

Junior Elizabeth Schloss finished sixth (19:42) followed by fellow junior Catherine Ortiz, and seniors Melanie McCormick and Bridget Hastings, all within nine seconds of Schloss.

The Bombers season begins to heat up Saturday, when they travel to Bethlehem, Pa., for the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University. The Bombers will compete with some of the top Division III colleges in the country along with a mix of Division I and Division II teams.