GLASSBORO, NJ (November 12, 2016) – The Vassar College women's cross country team ran one of its best races on the biggest stage of the season on Saturday, taking 13^th place at the NCAA Atlantic Regional, hosted by Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey.

The Brewers were consistently packed throughout the entire race, but continued to move up near the back of the scoring pack, thanks to solid, gritty running by sophomore Cameron Daddis and senior Laura MacDonald. At the 552 meter mark of the race, freshman Meghan Cook and sophomore Christiana Prater-Lee led the pack out, posting times of 1:49.1 and 1:48.9 through the split, respectively.

The team was in 14^th place past the first marker, with the first and fifth-place runners for VC separated by 66 positions. The women would start to pack up even stronger through the second marker at 2000 meters, as senior Lucy Balcezak sprinted forward to the front of the park for Vassar. She posted a 7:12.7 through the first third of the race, followed by Cook six seconds later.

Vassar would drop back to 15^th place after the 3.7k mark of the race, but the pack actually improved for VC had all five scoring runners in the top 90. This would bode well for the women's squad, as the back three runners in the top five of the Brewers continued to move up. At the final line, Vassar would jump up two spots to 13^th overall thanks to a great kick by Prater-Lee, Daddis and Cook.

That kick allowed Vassar to trim 17 points off their team total, which jumped two spots over New Paltz and Cortland. Balcezak was huge for the Brewers in her final cross country race at VC, running a career-best time of 22:23.9. Balcezak led Vassar across the line in all of the races she competed in this season.

MacDonald was also great in her final competition for Vassar, as she came in 68^th place with a time of 22:39.3, which was by far her personal-best time for the Brewers. Prater-Lee was right behind her with a 22:39.8, finishing in 69^th place. The time marked the first time that Prater-Lee has run under 23 minutes for a 6k course, setting a personal-best on the afternoon.

The personal-bests continued for Vassar, as Daddis blasted her previous 6k best of 23:23.4 Saturday with a time of 22:46.4, taking 76^th overall place for the Brewers. Cook was two seconds behind Daddis for the Brewers, as she was 77^th with a 22:48.0, which was a personal-best by 17 seconds over her 23:05.8 at Seven Sisters a few weeks ago.

Freshman Erin Clark had a strong race as well for Vassar, running through the line in 102^nd place with a personal-best time of 23:11.4, which topped her previous top time of 23:26.9 at the Seven Sisters Championships. Junior Katie Voegtlin was Vassar's final runner on the day, and she chalked up a 23:41.9, which was a seasonal-best time for her.

Geneseo won the individual title with a score of 90 points, while Oneonta was second with 112 points. Liberty League title holder RPI finished third overall. Stevens' Amy Regan was the individual winner, chalking up a 20:05.1 in the win.

"Lucy ran over a minute faster than in September on the same course, and the women improved the gap to her from 45 to 25 seconds," said head coach James McCowan. "Laura closed remarkably well in the final 2k, while Cam ran an amazingly tough effort line to line. Christina really went for it, and made the move stick, and Meghan running with a strained leg absolutely crushed her prior personal best."

"Super proud of their effort today- they have been having a lot of fun working hard and getting after it, and they really rose to the occasion," said McCowan. "Across the board everyone ran fast than ever, and you can't ask for more than that."