BRONX, N.Y. – In her final collegiate race, veteran standout Elaine Estes placed fifth to lead the Saint Joseph's women's cross country squad to a ninth-place team finish in a field of 18 at the 2019 ECAC Championship, held at Van Cortlandt Park on Saturday morning. The Hawks averaged a 5k time of 19:19.60 and totaled 229 points.
 
Paced by a 5:54 mile average, Estes crossed the finish line in 18:19 to post the fifth-fastest time in the field of 146. Estes was the top A-10 performer at the meet and held off Monmouth's Sammi Ragenklint and Rider's Kristin Siegle for the top-five finish.
 
Having exhausted her indoor and outdoor track and field eligibility in 2018-19, the race, which earned SJU's leader All-ECAC recognition for the first time in her career, marked Estes' final go donning the Crimson and Gray.

"Coach Mel and the girls who were there at the line today definitely know what this sport means to me," said Estes following the race. "I just get so overwhelmed with happiness that I am able to run until it hurts on beautiful days like today. I lost it with happy tears in our huddle before the race. I never would have thought I would be the person I am today, and running is truly what has shaped me the most over the past few years. Running is what brought me to SJU, and it is the aspect of college that I am most reluctant to leave, but it has definitely helped me feel ready for whatever is next."
 
A trio of Hawks finished next, within nine seconds of one another, as junior Abigail Silva (19:27), senior Samantha Mayers (19:28 PR), and junior Morgan Patten (19:36 PR) went 50th, 52nd, and 59th, respectively.
 
Senior co-captains Emily Bracken (19:48) and Meridith Twomey (19:49) finished together (71st, 72nd) as SJU's #5 and #6 runners while senior Abigail McGann (94th, 20:16 PR), freshman Olivia Wojtowicz (98^th, 20:22), junior Alexa Gostovich (100th, 20:26), and senior Emily Schaeffer (114th, 20:59) rounded out SJU's 10-woman roster.
 
Of note, for the third championship race, Saint Joseph's was without its #2 runner, Morgan Camerlo, due to injury.
 
SJU placed third out of five squads in the open race with an average 5k time of 21:03.00 and 69 points; senior Rose Barrett closed her cross country career with an eighth-place finish in a field of 40 (20:29) to finish as SJU's top runner in the field.
 
Six of SJU's seven departing seniors in Barrett, Bracken, Estes, Mayers, McGann, and Schaeffer donned the Crimson and Gray for the final time on the trails on Saturday, while fellow senior Joanna DeSousa closed her final cross country season at the Lafayette Leopard Invitational (Oct. 19).
 
Of note, Camerlo and Twomey will return for their final respective seasons of cross country eligibility in Spring 2020.  

The meet officially concludes the 2019 cross country season. The 2019-20 women's track and field indoor campaign will kick off on Friday, December 6 at the Fastrack Season Opener in Staten Island, N.Y. (Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex).