By Jim Fenton

WATERFORD, Conn. -- Junior Naomi Cass (Westport, Mass.) was the lone Bridgewater State University runner to compete in the varsity meet at the Connecticut College Invitational.

Cass finished 69th in a field of 277 runners who completed the 6-kilometer course at the Harkness Memorial State Park on Saturday afternoon.

Her time was 22:35.70, making Cass the first runner from the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference in the race.

Junior Tealei Chandonnet (Dracut, Mass.) of Westfield State University was the second MASCAC runner, finishing 101st in 23:05.08.

Cass was also the top BSU runner in three previous meets this season.

She won the Wheaton/Babson Season Opener, was 19th overall at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational and sixth out of 240 runners at the Keene State Invitational.

MIT was first in the team standings with 83 points followed by New York University (101) and Williams College (106).

The individual winner was sophomore Audrey Maclean (Tiburon, Calif.) of Middlebury College in a time of 20:44.60.

Three Bears competed in the JV meet earlier in the day. Senior Lily Valcovic (East Taunton, Mass.) posted a time of 24:48.80 (91st), while senior Ana Imrie (Arlington, Mass.) checked in with a PR time of 26:47.80 (179th), and graduate student Lisa Jaeger (Medfield, Mass.) completed the course in 27:00.40 (187th).

BSU is off until Saturday, Nov. 2 when it will take part in the MASCAC Championships, hosted by Fitchburg State University at the Doyle Conservation Center in Leominster.

Cass was the MASCAC champion in 2023, finishing the Fort Devens' 5-kilometer course in 19:10.58. She became the first BSU runner to win the women's title since Krysta Zbikowski in 2013.

The Bears were second in the team standings behind Westfield State.