Women's Cross Country Takes Third at Ivy League Heptagonal Championships

The Brown women's cross country team placed third overall at the 2007 Heptagonal Ivy League Cross Country Championships at Van Cortlandt Park this afternoon. Princeton finished in first place with 25 points, followed by Columbia (69), Brown (104), Penn (116) in fourth, Harvard (117) fifth, Yale (133), Cornell (138) and Dartmouth (229). The Bears' had their highest finish in seven years, and is clearly demonstrating to be on a team on the rise.

Leading the way for Brown was Smita Gupta (Tulsa, OK) finishing sixth place overall with a time of 17:46.5. In seventh was sophomore Ariel Wright (Oakland, CA) with a 17:48, followed by sophomore Jenna Ridgway (Santa Barbara, CA) with an 18:15.5, freshman Lauren Pischel (La Jolla, CA) 18:29.2, and freshman Kesley Ramsey (Franklin Lakes, NJ) with an 18:52.6.

Brown had two of the League's top finishes in Wright and Gupta. They ran the third and fourth fastest times in Brown history, faster than two-time All-American, Anna Willard '05. Both earned first team All-Ivy honors for their performances.

The Bears improved on their finish from last year, as they finished in seventh with a total of 162 points. Ridgway was Brown's top finisher in 20th place last year, as she finished the 5-Kilometer course in an 18:11 effort.