Sophomore Hannah Zeltner (Bedford, N.H.) came in 15th place overall to lead the Bates women's cross country to its best showing at the NESCAC Championship meet since 1995: Bates was fourth at the meet, hosted by Connecticut College at Harkness State Park on Saturday in Waterford, Conn.
The Bobcats totaled 138 points as a team behind event winner Middlebury (29), second-place Williams (51), and third-place Tufts (90). The team finished ahead of – in order – Hamilton (147), Colby (183), Conn. College (188), Amherst (192), Bowdoin (235), Wesleyan (289), and Trinity (333).
The Bobcats tied for fourth in the 11-team league last season with an identical 138 points, which was the program's best NESCAC finish since 1995.
Zeltner completed the 6-kilometer course in 22:13 as the Bobcats' top finisher in a field of 126 runners. Junior Elena Jay finished in 21st place overall in a time of 22:26 with senior Kallie Nixon following closely in 26th with a time of 22:39. Senior Gabrielle Naranja -- 33rd overall, 22:55 -- and sophomore Isabelle Unger -- 43rd overall, 23:25 -- rounded out the scoring for Bates.
The team's displacers included senior Mira Carey-Hatch with a time of 23:36 (46th place) and sophomore Addie Cullenberg who crossed the finish in 23:39, good for 47th overall, as all seven of Bates' runners finished in the top 50.
