WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) held the 2015 Division III Cross Country Championships on Saturday (Nov. 7), hosted by Williams College, with Tufts University taking the women's team title on the 6k course at Mt. Greylock.

In the women's championship, Tufts bested a field of 46, with the University of New England taking runners-up and Williams finishing in third. The Jumbos used three top-10 finishes to finish with 45 points and an average time of 23:28, four seconds better than UNE's average time of 23:32.

Tiana Thomas from the University of New England claimed the individual title with a time 22:54.2 on the 6k course, one year after finishing as runner-up. Lindsay Atkeson (23:02.85) of Tufts took second place, while Williams' Meg Richardson turned in a time of 23:06.38 on her home course to finish third.

The Worcester State Lancers placed 32^nd overall out of 52 teams (311 total runners took part in the meet).

Worcester State's top finisher was sophomore Justine Murdocca who finished 139^th with a time of 26:40. This was a 2:31 personal record over last year's 6k time.

"Justine ran an excellent race, eclipsing her previous best performance on this course at this distance by 2:31," said head coach Gary Jusseaume. "Justine's significant improvement comes from her dedicated work ethic and competitive perseverance throughout the season."

Next to cross the finish line for the Lancers was sophomore Emma Rose who came in 169^th with a time of 27:40. Not far behind Rose, was sophomore Jaime Sullivan who ran the course in 27:44 at 173^rd place.

"Emma and Jaime ran their best races of the 2015 season as both earned PRs (personal records) at this challenging 6k distance," state Jusseaume.

Rounding up the results for Worcester State was freshman Emily Bumpus at 28:38, freshman Julie Bernazani at 29:11, and junior Melanie Hunter at 29:13 – finishing 202^nd, 223^rd, and 226^th respectively.

Worcester State University next competes in the NCAA Division III Regional Championships on Saturday (Nov. 14) at Harkness Park in Waterford, Conn.

Portions of this Release Courtesy of ECAC Communications