FREDONIA, NY – The University of Rochester women's cross country team used a terrific 41-second spread between its top six runners, earning a team victory at the Fredonia Kara Hall Memorial Invitational on Saturday morning.
 
Six Yellowjacket runners crossed the stripe among the top-14 finishers overall in the 6-kilometer race which served as a first look for runners ahead of the NCAA Niagara Regional later in the season.
 
Overall in the meet, Rochester compiled a team score of 51 points, ranking first among the 13 teams in the competition. Ithaca wrapped up the race in second with a 60-point total, with RIT ending third with 71 points.
 
Leading the Yellowjackets was graduate student Kat Benninger who placed seventh with a time of 21:31.2 in the race that featured 140 total competitors. Senior teammate Sab Lin crossed the finish in ninth place overall with a 23:28.4 time, and rounding out the top-10 finishers was senior Ellie Ponko who had a finish of 23:31.3.
 
UR's other three finishers in the top-15 were junior Riley Joseph, senior Alicia Lawson and senior Andie Burton, ranging from 12th through 14th place. Joseph finished in 23:57.3, with Lawson and Burton crossing the line less than a second apart at 24:02.1 and 24:02.6.
 
Rochester's seventh runner and final displacer was Ariane Yedidia in 35th place, with the first-year crossing the finish in 24:55.9.
 
Sophomore Ella Blau also posted a solid top-40 finish in 38th place, while first-year Kara Goldstein ended just outside the top-50, crossing the stripe in 51st place.
 
The Yellowjackets next competition is set for Saturday, October 19th at the SUNY Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational.