SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (November 1, 2014) – The Vassar College women's cross country team finished third at the Liberty League Championships on Saturday. The championships were hosted by RPI at Saratoga Spa State Park. U.S. No. 2 St. Lawrence, which has never lost a Liberty League title, won again this year with a near-perfect score of 16 points. RIT, which has been ranked as high as 20th in the nation this year, claimed the runner-up spot with 59 points. Vassar and RPI each had 79 points, but the Brewers won the tiebreaker to secure third place. For the tiebreaker, the top five runners from the tied schools are compared head-to-head. Since Vassar's first three runners each beat the corresponding runner on RPI, Vassar won the tiebreaker 3-2.

For the third consecutive meet, the Brewers were led by a stellar performance from senior Cassidy Carpenter (Mountainview, CA, Mountain View). Carpenter has been on fire of late, and turned in her third personal record in as many races, running a blazing fast 22:29 for 6k. Carpenter finished seventh overall, earning First Team All-League honors. Freshman standout Meghan Willcoxon (Doylestown, PA, Central Bucks East) was likewise stellar, earning Second Team All-League honors with a ninth place overall finish in a personal best time of 22:45.

Sophomore Jemma Howlett (Bloomfield Hills, MI, Cranbrook Kingswood) was just one spot away from All-League recognition with a 15th place overall finish. Howlett matched her personal best 6k time exactly, running 23:11.9 for the second time in her career. Sophomore Lucy Balcezak (New Haven, CT, Hopkins School) and junior Ava Farrell (Chevy Chase, MD, Bethesda-Chevy Chase) closed out the scoring for the Brewers, finishing close together in 23rd and 25th place with times of 23:35 and 23:50.

In all, the Brewers had an impressive 8 runners break the 24-minute barrier in the race. Another bright spot for the Brewers was the performance of senior Viviane Ford (Northampton, MA, Northampton), who was sidelined by injury for much of the year, but looks to be returning to form after a 24:14 clocking.

The Brewers will next toe the line on November 8th at the ECAC Championships, hosted by Westfield State. The Brewers raced at Westfield previously this season when they competed at the James Earley Invitational, where they had a strong showing with a second place overall team finish.