BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Messiah women's cross country team finished 19th (492 team points) out of 42 teams in the women's college white race (6K) at the Paul Short Invitational on Friday afternoon.
 
The Falcons were led by Katie Anthony, who finished in 79th place with a personal best time of 23:54.6. Amber Fogelsanger posted a 24:17.8 (96th) to give Messiah two top-100 finishers in a tough field of runners.
 
The trio of Connor Coggins (105th, 24:22.8), Joy Galbraith (109th, 24:25.5), and Ali Schutte (111th, 24:28.3) finished within six seconds of each other, giving the Falcons a solid top-five scoring group. Rounding out the first seven finishers for Messiah were back-to-back finishers Kirsten Howland (121st, 24:36.8) and Sarah Bath (122nd, 24:38.3).
 
Natalie Hamlen (128th, 24:47.0) followed closely, coming in just ten seconds after Howland and Bath. Juliette Safer (134th, 24:55.9) closed out the sub-25-minute finishers for the Falcons in the race.
 
In the penultimate regular season race for the Falcons, continued improvement over the course of the 2022 campaign showed itself in a fantastic finish for Messiah's women's squad.
 
What's Next
 
The Falcons will return to action on Saturday October 15 at the Rowan Interregional Border Battle in Glassboro, N.J. This race is the final tune-up before the MAC Championships on October 29 at Lebanon Valley's Union Canal Tunnel Park course.