ROCHESTER, NY -- Women's cross country opened up its season at St. John Fisher University with a ninth place result Friday night.

The Saxons ended with 237 points in the race, with the top finisher being McKenzie Hall (Hornell, NY/Hornell) 32nd overall with a time of 16:52.5 in the 4K race. First-year runner Alivia Kocan (Hornell, NY/Arkport Central) followed suit in her first collegiate career race, with a 18:01.6 finishing 63rd overall. Annabelle Townsend (Woodsville, NH/Woodsville) was right behind just 46 seconds later at 18:47.2.

Underclassmen runners rounded out the top five for the Saxons, continuing to show its strengths in progression and eyes set for the future. Those two runners in fourth and fifth for the team were Mia R. Frazer (Cliffside Park, NJ/Inwood Academy) and Desirea Stuart (Jasper, NY/Jasper-Troupsberg), practically crossing the line together with times of 20:28.4 and 20:28.7, respectively.

"The athletes raced on a tough course, with constant rolling terrain and some tight turns," Head Coach Matt Phillips '10 said. "This makes keeping your pace challenging. Despite these conditions, we gained insight into our team especially the first years." 

The Saxons will look to continue its upward trend at its next race on Saturday, September 7 at 11 am, hosted by SUNY Brockport.