New Gloucester, MAINE - The Colby Women's Cross Country team raced at the State of Maine Invitational hosted by Bates College on Saturday. This meet provided a glimpse of Maine's cross country scene just under a month from championship season. This meet was also the first time this season that the Mules ran their entire roster together in a single race.

First hosted 43 years ago in 1978, the Maine State Women's Cross Country Meet has been the cornerstone of the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin rivalry. The Mules came in ready to run valiant efforts, despite most of the roster battling the aptly-named "Colby Cough" some time in the last 2 weeks.

The State Meet was hosted by Bates at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester. An infamously twisty course through wooded trails and agrarian fields, Pineland Farms is well-known in the NESCAC as a "true cross country course". This race was over the 5K distance.

The Colby Women placed second overall, behind rival Bates but ahead of rival Bowdoin.

Bates' Jillian Richardson (SR) won the meet in 18:39.0 on her home course. In third was Colby's Lindsay Michels, running just under 19 minutes in 18:58 on the fairly slow course. Right behind her was Claire Beebe, coming in 5th with a 19:06. Michels and Beebe are only first-years, and their ceilings are high.  The top seven women at the State Meet ran excellent, gritty races.

In 11th and 12th were Colby's Meredith Griffin (SR, 19:35) and Meghan Garrett (JR, 19:43). As runners who prefer the middle distance events in track (like the 800 and mile), Griffin and Garrett are showing that they are very capable in the long distance events.  In 17th was Colby's Julia Hopley (JR, 20:09). Hopley is another Colby middle distance runner excelling at the longer distance events.

The Colby Women's Cross Country team impressed, as per usual, gaining momentum heading into the championship season. Up next, the Mules (ranked 6th regionally) will be racing in a region-wide meet at Suffolk in Boston. Suffolk's course is the site of the Division III East Regional Championships, and the Mules will gain some valuable experience running on the course ahead of the Regional Championships.

Team Results:
1. Bates - 27 pts
2. Colby - 46
3. Bowdoin - 76
4. UNE - 113
5. Husson - 154
6. Saint Joseph's - 189
7. UMF - 199
8. USM - 217
9. Thomas - 253

Individual Results:
1. Jillian Richardson (Bates) - 18:39.0
3. Lindsay Michels - 18:58.5
5.  Claire Beebe - 19:06.7
11.  Meredith Griffin - 19:35.3
12. Meghan Garrett - 19:42.0
17. Julia Hopley - 20:09.8
24. Margo Kenyon - 20:21.8
25. Emily Jeon - 20:29.9