NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. — Junior Chloe Vescio (Douglas, Mass.) placed seventh among Division III runners to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's cross country team at the 53rd UMass Dartmouth Cross Country Invitational this afternoon in North Dartmouth, Mass.

The Lyons finished 20th as a team in the Gold race with 609 points and eighth among Division III squads. Boston University topped the field with 63 points, while Connecticut College was first among Division III schools with 173 points. 

Bryant University junior Norah Puleo (Mansfield, Mass.) led all runners with a time of 21:20.29, while senior Kiera Tallas (Fountain Valley, Calif.) was the fastest Division III competitor with a mark of 21:26.67.

Vescio shaved 73 seconds off her previous best time with a clip of 22:32.54 to place 29th overall. Wheaton junior Abby Wozniak (Blackstone, Mass.) finished 73rd overall and 17th in the Division III field with a time of 23:24.87. 

Junior Maggie Cizmar (Plymouth, Mass.) also turned in a personal-record time as one of four Lyons to do so. She clipped 18 seconds off her previous best to finish 164th/70th at 26:03.13. First year Nicole Christian (Charlton, Mass.) boasted a mark of 27:08.91 to finish 191st/93rd and sophomore Caeli Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) was right behind her with a clip of 27:21.94 to shave 18 seconds off her best and place 196th/97th. Senior Annabelle Sanders (Miami, Fla.) trimmed a whopping 1:44 off her personal-record mark and placed 197th/98th with a time of 27:22.40 to round out the scoring for Wheaton. Sophomore Sophia Woodcock (Warrington, Pa.) turned in a time of 28:51.02 to finish 214th/114th.

The Lyons will compete again on Saturday, October 3 when they travel to Keene, N.H. to run in the Keene State Invitational at 11:20 a.m.