HAMILTON, NY – The Boston University women's cross country team opened their season on a winning note on Saturday, finishing first at the 2019 Harry Lang XC Invitational hosted by Colgate.
 
The Terriers were led by senior Abigail Gugel and sophomore Jessica Kellar who finished first and second respectively, helping the Terriers finish first overall as a team with 26 points (scored lowest to highest). Gugel finished the 4.8K course with a time of 17:11.2, just ahead of second-place finisher Kellar who finished with a time of 17:16.5.
 
Overall the Terriers finished ahead of teams from Syracuse, Navy, Bucknell, Lehigh, Colgate and Binghamton. 
 
Freshman Sophia Jacobs-Townsley had an excellent debut, finishing fifth with a time of 17.31.7 while freshman Andrea Claeson finished seventh with a time of 17:41.1. Junior Corinne Batsu took 11th in the field of 91 with a time of 17:51.4.

"Just a great job by the women's team today,' said head coach Paul Spangler "They had a great summer of training. To place five in the top 11 including two freshman shows me a lot."
 
"Abby is coming off a great track season and is one of the best runners in the conference. She looked in control and started off her senior campaign in great fashion. I think we will have a target on our back this year, we just need to stay healthy and continue to work to get better to achieve our goals."

The victory took place on the same course where the Patriot League Championships will be held on Nov. 2.
 
The Terriers will next compete at Franklin Park, in the Coast to Coast Battle in Beantown on Friday, Sept. 20th.