BETHLEHEM, Pa.--Six members of the Hood College women's cross country team traveled to Lehigh University for the NCAA Mid-East Regional.

Hood earned a 42nd place team finish out of 53 squads at the meet. Senior Jessica Stanley traversed the course in a team-best time of 26:10.0 for 185th place out of 311 competitors. Joanna LaBoue ran No. 2 for the Blazers in 27:22.1 while Emily Brownlee clocked in at 27:38.9. Erica Burgess crossed the tape in 28:01.4, while Sam Smith (29:52.6) and Kristina Coggins (34:02.7) capped off the Hood squad.

Stanley's time was her second-fastest time ever and the 30th fastest mark in the seven-year history of Hood College cross country.

“Jess’ efforts this fall certainly exceeded my expectation,” said head coach Brent Ayer. “She is an all-Capital Athletic Conference 400-meter runner. Basically, she is running 150 times longer than her preferred distance and doing it well.”

LaBoue, a first-time runner, continued her strong fall by again placing second for the Blazers. Brownlee completed her college cross country career with a personal best and Burgess and Coggins also ran personal bests.

“A lot of this season was held together with bailing wire,” Ayer observed. “The athlete we expected to run No. 1 for us was hurt out of season and never returned and our projected No. 2 broke her ankle in a non-athletic event. We were rescued by better than expected performances from Jess and Emily and a group of newcomers.”

Lebanon Valley's Jenn Cronin set the pace in a time of 21:39.2 while Johns Hopkins University won the team competition.