PAINESVILLE, Ohio. - Paced by the top-five finishes of senior Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) and Amy Trabert (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst), the Daemen College women's cross country team finished third our of 15 competing teams at the Lake Erie Storm Invitational. The race was hosted by Lake Erie College.
The race was originally schedule for 6,000 meters (6k), but a wrong turn by the lead cart resulted in the distance coming in at 4,300 meters.
Daemen totaled 71 points in the team standings, coming in just behind their Walsh University (63) and Wheeling Jesuit University (68). Each of the top-three teams are currently ranked regionally by U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Walsh is ranked eighth in the Midwest Region, Wheeling Jesuit is eighth in the Atlantic Region and Daemen is fourth in the East Region.
Daemen was the only program that had two runners finish in the top-five, but Walsh secured the win by placing four runners among the top-16. Cleveland State University (123) Edinboro University (124) rounded out the top-five.
Kelsey Chambers of Wheeling Jesuit finished first among the 127 runners with a time of 16:07.94, 21 seconds ahead of Tori Reeves of Walsh (16:28.20).
Daenmen had five runners finish among the top-26. Donahue finished in 16:33.51 which was good for third place. It marked her second-straight third-place finish and the 17th top-10 finish of her career (in 23 career races). Her performance today also marked the 20th time in her career that she's come in as Daemen's top finisher.
Trabert finished in fifth place with a time of 16:41.24. She has now finished in the top-five in three of Daemen's four races this season, including a first-place effort at the season-opening Le Moyne Alumni Short Course Invitational. Trabert now has six top-10 finishes in her career (out of 17 career races).
Seniors Hannah Rice (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) and Ashley Cheff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls) and redshirt-sophomore Rebekah Zee (East Aurora, N.Y./Slippery Rock University) each earned top-26 finishes for the Wildcats today. Rice posted her second-straight top-20 finishing after placing 15th with a time of 17:24.05. The performance today marked Rice's 14th top-20 finish in her career (in 20 career races). Cheff made her 2016 debut and also competed in her first cross country race since the 2014 East Coast Conference championship. She placed 22nd with a time of 17:34.37. Zee has now figured in the scoring in each of her first four races in a Daemen uniform, finishing 26th today with a time of 17:43.92.
Morgan Urbanek (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder), Katherine Robinson (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena), Brittany Denton (Oakfield, N.Y./Oakfield-Alabama), Emily Bradley (Lockport, N.Y./Starpoint), Shania LiVecchi (West Seneca, N.Y./West Seneca West) and Julia Gaeta (Kenmore, N.Y./Kenmore West) also competed for Daemen today, finishing between 40th and 82nd places.
Daemen returns to action next weekend (Oct. 15) when it travels across town to take part in the Canisius Alumni Classic hosted by Canisuis College.
For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's cross country team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenXC on Twitter.
