O'Sullivan Leads Owls With Fourth-Place Finish at James Earley Invitational

WESTFIELD, Mass. - Westfield State senior Amy O'Sullivan (Greenfield, Mass.) took home fourth-place honors to lead the Westfield State women's cross country team at the 25^th annual James Earley Invitational Cross Country meet at Stanley Park on Saturday.

O'Sullivan finished in 18:29.24, 27 seconds behind meet individual champion Lauren Selkin of Mount Holyoke, whose time of 18:02.12 was less than a second off the meet record that O'Sullivan set in 2019.

O'Sullivan led the pack early and over the bridge near the 1-mile mark, but Selkin and a pair of Smith College runners had gained a 10-yard advantage on O'Sullivan by the 2-mile marker.

Smith's Laurel Kruger took second place in 18:18.13, with Vassar's Sasha Allison thris in 18:19.58.

Smith won the team race with 26 points, followed by Mount Holyoke (55) and Williams (80).  Westfield State took seventh place (96 points) among the 24 scoring teams.

Westfield State seniors Kayla Whitcomb  (Hubbarston, Mass./Quabbin Reg.) (35^th, 19:50.88) and Mia McDonald (Westfield, Mass.)  (55^th, 20:24.00) were next for Westfield, followed by Grace Poplawski (Rowe, Mass./Mohawk Trail) in 70^th and Lauren Flynn (Upton, Mass./Blackstone) in 88^th.

176 runners competed in the women's white race.

In the women's blue race, Smith's Allison Weiss outdistanced the field to win in 20:18.61.

Westfield's women has a tight grouping, led by Molly Kennedy (West Springfield, Mass.) 35th in 22:29.7, followed by Sarah Tormey (Pembroke, Mass.) in 37^th and Rebecca Patel (Belchertown, Mass.) in 38^th.

Smith College won the women's blue race with a team score of 30 points, followed by Mount Holyoke (53) St. Michael's (69) Springfield (70) and Westfield (146).

Seventy runners and seven complete teams competed in the blue race.

Westfield State will next compete at the Connecticut College Invitational meet next Saturday.