Mackenzie Donahue shaved 25 seconds off her time from this same event last season to finish in third place today

Women's Cross Country 9/24/2016 11:51:00 AM Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Donahue & Trabert Run To Top-Five Finishes

Wildcats Finish Third At Harry F. Anderson Invitational

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - 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 21 competing teams at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational, a 5K race hosted today on the campus of Roberts Wesleyan College.

Daemen totaled 89 points in the team standings, coming in just behind their East Coast Conference rivals, the race-hosting RWC Redhawks who accumulated 77 points to finish in second place. Fellow ECC member St. Thomas Aquinas College was also in action, finishing ninth with 233 points. RWC and STAC were picked first and second, respectively, with the Wildcats picked third, in the ECC preseason poll. All three teams have also been ranked in each of the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division II East Region polls released this season. RWC currently leads the group in those rankings at No. 3, with Daemen sitting at No. 4 and STAC at No. 9. Today's race marked the first time that all three of the ECC frontrunners have gone head-to-head this season.

SUNY Cortland was the class of the race today. The Red Dragons, an affiliate of NCAA Division III and the State University of New York Athletic Conference, totaled a race-low 67 points to sit atop the team standings, placing three runners in the top-seven finishers, and all five of their scorers in the top-22. They were paced by senior Mary Baughman (Rush, N.Y.) who won the race with a time of 18:18.1. She came in just ahead of runner-up Elizabeth Valento (Pavilion, N.Y.) of the host Redhawks, a first-team All-ECC performer last season, who completed the course today in 18:22.7.

Donahue finished in 18:28.5 which was good for third place in the individual standings (out of 223 competitors). It's her second straight top-ten finish at this particular event, and the 16th of her career (in 22 career races). Donahue shaved 25 seconds off her time from this event last season (18:53.8) when she finished as the race runner-up. Her performance today also marked the 19th time in her career that she's come in as Daemen's top finisher.

Trabert, who beat Donahue in competition for the first time at last week's Rochester Yellowjacket Invitational, was hot on her heels today, finishing in fourth place with a time of 18:32.4. The Daemen junior opened the season by winning the Le Moyne Alumni Short Course Invitational, and now has five top-10 finishes in her career (out of 16 career races).

Senior Hannah Rice (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) and redshirt-sophomore Rebekah Zee (East Aurora, N.Y./Slippery Rock University) each earned top-20 finishes for the Wildcats today. Rice, who finished third in Daemen's season-opening meet at Le Moyne before taking last week's race off, returned to competition with a 12th-place finish this morning (19:14.7). The performance today marked Rice's 13th top-20 finish in her career (in 19 career races). Zee has now figured in the scoring in each of her first three races in a Daemen uniform, finishing 20th today with a time of 19:29.5.

Newcomer Leanna Wiebelt (East Setauket, N.Y./Suffolk County CC), a junior, rounded out the Wildcats' scorers today. She finished 50th overall with a time of 20:03.4.

Brittany Denton (Oakfield, N.Y./Oakfield-Alabama), Morgan Urbanek (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder), Katherine Robinson (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena), Shania LiVecchi (West Seneca, N.Y./West Seneca West), Emily Bradley (Lockport, N.Y./Starpoint), Julia Gaeta (Kenmore, N.Y./Kenmore West) and Emily Radford (Holley, N.Y./Holley) also competed for Daemen today, finishing between 53rd and 183rd places.

Other NCAA Division II teams in the field today included Franklin Pierce University (11th place, 306 points) and Gannon University (13th place, 328 points). Division I St. Bonaventure University finished eighth (215 points) today as well.

Daemen is now idle until Saturday, October 8 when they'll head to The Buckeye State for the Lake Erie Storm Invitational.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's cross country team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenXC on Twitter.

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Players Mentioned

Emily Bradley: 5' 3"; Redshirt Sophomore

Brittany Denton: 5' 3"; Senior

Mackenzie Donahue: 5' 2"; Senior

Emily Radford: 5' 4"; Sophomore

Hannah Rice: 5' 5"; Senior

Katherine Robinson: 5' 3"; Redshirt Junior

Amy Trabert: 5' 3"; Junior

Morgan Urbanek: 5' 2"; Senior

Julia Gaeta: 4' 11"; Freshman

Shania LiVecchi: 5' 3"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Emily Bradley
: 5' 3"; Redshirt Sophomore

Brittany Denton
: 5' 3"; Senior

Mackenzie Donahue
: 5' 2"; Senior

Emily Radford
: 5' 4"; Sophomore

Hannah Rice
: 5' 5"; Senior

Katherine Robinson
: 5' 3"; Redshirt Junior

Amy Trabert
: 5' 3"; Junior

Morgan Urbanek
: 5' 2"; Senior

Julia Gaeta
: 4' 11"; Freshman

Shania LiVecchi
: 5' 3"; Freshman