Newton, Mass. - In the first annual Mount Ida College Cross Country Invitational visiting Newbury College junior Solange Thomas (Webster, Mass.) captured a first place finish in the women's 5K division with a time of 22:26 while senior Ryan Maliff (Ashfield, Mass.) crossed first for the men's 8K division with a time of 34:20 Thursday afternoon in Newton, Massachusetts. 

Four teams participated in the women's division including Mount Ida College, Newbury College, Curry College, and Pine Manor College.  Pine Manor was the only team to not finish or place due to the lack of five runners in the race. 

The top finisher for the Mustangs was senior Jeileen Rivera (Springfield, Mass.) with a time of 22:41 for a second place finish while Curry College sophomore Shannon Wallace (Libertyville, Ill.) came in third place (22:45).  Curry freshman Jessica Leary (Pembroke, Mass.) was the fourth place finisher with a time of 23:27. 

On the men's side, behind Maliff was Mount Ida senior Sean Slattery (South Burlington, Vt.) finishing in second place with a time of 34:38.  The next three runners to cross the finish line were from Mount Ida starting with the third place finisher, junior Jake Davis (Chester, N.H.) with a time of 36:45 in the 8K.  Sophomore Daniel Rubin (Staten Island, N.Y.) came in fourth (38:30) while senior Sean Maher (Ashland, Mass.) saw fifth place with a time of 39:43.

In team scores, Curry College was the top team finisher with 29 points in the women's division while the Mustangs took second place with 44 points.  Newbury captured third place with 55 points.  The men's division did not place team scores with Newbury not having enough runners.

The Colonels were led by Wallace, who finished in 3rd place with a time of 22:45. Other Curry finishers were Leary, 23:27 (4th), freshman Joyce Simon (Pembroke, Mass.), 23:47 (5th), senior Kelly Johnson (Burlington, Mass.), 25:44 (7th), freshman Melanie Berube (Beverly, Mass.), 25:46 (8th), senior Amy Comeroski (Exeter, R.I.), 27:30 (12th) and sophomore Avery Struthers (Hamden, Mass.), 27:38 (14th).

Curry returns to action on Saturday September 24, heading to Chicopee, Mass. to participate in the Elms College Invitational beginning at 11:00 a.m.  (Recap Courtesy of Mount Ida Sports Information).