WATERFORD, Conn. -- The Bates women's cross country team was outscored only by three perennial Division III powers, while the Bobcats outraced several others, as they finished fourth out of 26 teams in their first large meet of the season Saturday at the Connecticut College Invitational.

With 163 points, the Bobcats were outscored only by No. 5 Williams (74), No. 12 MIT (99), and No. 17 Tufts (120). Rounding out the top 10 teams after Bates were No. 23 Middlebury (167), No. 13 Amherst (169), No. 35 Brandeis (180), No. 26 WPI (231), Smith (242) and Connecticut College and RPI (284 each).

Junior Jillian Richardson (Auburn, Maine) finished eighth out of 206 runners in the meet's "Blue Race" for teams' top eight runners to lead the Bobcats. Richardson covered the 6-kilometer course at Harkness State Park in 22:10.9.

Only first-place Williams finished its sixth and seventh runners ahead of Bates', and only 90 seconds separated Richardson from the Bobcats' fifth and final scorer.

Senior captain Tara Ellard (Brewster, Mass.) finished 24th overall in 22:57.6. She was followed by junior teammate Jordan Wilson (Medfield, Mass.) in 40th place (23:15.7), first-year Olivia Reynolds (Cumberland, Maine) in 45th place (23:27.8) and junior Ilana Zeilinger (Washington, D.C.) in 56th place (23:40.6).

Serving as Bates' two scoring displacers, sophomore Jen Coseno (Sutton, Mass.) finished 59th (23:47.4) and junior Sarah Gallagher (Dummerston, Vt.) took 67th place overall (23:55.1).

Bates also competed in the meet's JV race, placing third out of 14 teams with only Williams and MIT outscoring the Bobcats. Senior Carly Harris (Orinda, Calif.) led Bates, placing fourth among 136 individuals with a time of 23:55.6.

Bates will compete at the Bowdoin Invitational next Saturday, with the women's race at 11:30am and the men's race at 10:30.