The women’s cross country has been off to a fast start so far this year, the season has been filled with fast miles and big smiles. Since September, we have seen many highlights from everyone around. On September 21st, the team ran at the 2024 UMass & Dartmouth invitational, picking up a 22nd place team finish in a field of 45 teams. Seniors Nora Conway and Ava O’Donnell led the way in the 5k race as Conway took home the 67th place with a time 19:26:80 and O’Donnell followed with a 71st place finish and a time of 19:29:64. Junior Cara Morris rounded out the top three, taking home a 157th place finish, along with a time of 20:32:37.The team also competed at the Keene State invitational on October 5th where they placed 8th among 23 teams. Junior Anyelina Martinez was the leader among her team, she placed 19th with a time 18:46:8. Following close behind was Nora Conway, who took home 35th place with a time of 19:19:8. Rounding out the top three runners was Ava O’Donnell who finished in 65th place 20:02:7. A few days later, the team traveled to the Hopkinton Fairgrounds to compete in the NEICAAA Championship. The hawks finished in 11th place out of 19 teams. Martinez again led the way, placing 16th. Her time of 18:17:11 set a new program record in the women’s 5K and is also a new personal best in the event. On October 27th, Anyelina Martinez achieved a very big accomplishment, she placed 1st in the NE10 championship, becoming the first ever Saint Anselm women’s cross country student-athlete ever to be awarded that honor. Martinez became the first individual champion in Saint Anselm history. She came in first place in a field of 94 runners with a record breaking time of 21:45:38. “It was a wonderful opportunity and achievement being NE10’s conference champ”, she says, “I wanted to put myself in the best position that I could because my goal was to succeed as a team”. As a team, Saint A’s took home 3rd place out of 11 teams, which is also very good. “I was proud of the hard work me and my team put into the race,” she went to say, “I worked hard for cross country all season and I enjoy the long distance runs more than I ever have”. Another highlight of the day was that sophomore Lauren-Kate Garceu finished with a personal best 35th place with a time of 25:07:37 which was almost a minute off of her previous personal best. Another personal best was from sophomore Grace Olsen, who earned 25th place with a time of 23:04:11. 5 of the top 6 runners for Saint A’s set new personal best times. Saint Anselm would compete in the NCAA Division II East Region Championship on November 9 in Rochester, New York where they finished 7th in a field of very competitive running. Seniors Nora Conway & Ava O’Donnell led the way with impressive numbers, Conway taking home 12th place with a time of 22:23:5, and O’Donnell followed right behind with a 16th place finish and a time of 22:37:0. Nora and Ava would also be named to the USTFCCCA All-Region team. Junior Cara Morris and sophomore Lauren-Kate Garceau would finish within 10 seconds of each other, Morris had a time of 24:36:9 and Garceau had a time of 24:36:9. The hawks are certainly progressing, with Anyelina Martinez finishing 1st in the NE10 championship, who knows what other milestones are in store for her and the rest of the team