Manfra Wins, Women’s Cross Country Takes Fifth at Suffolk Invitational
Emily Manfra once again paved the path for Suffolk women’s cross country as the senior sailed to an individual title to help the Rams finish fifth at the Suffolk Invitational Saturday afternoon at Franklin Park.
BOSTON – Emily Manfra once again paved the path for Suffolk women's cross country as the senior sailed to an individual title to help the Rams finish fifth at the Suffolk Invitational Saturday afternoon at Franklin Park.
In 2019, every time Manfra has taken a course she has been the first runner to cross the finish line and Saturday was no different. The captain from Stoneham, Massachusetts, was no match for the other 201 runners in Jamaica Plain Saturday. She cruised at a 6:00 pace to clock in the 5K of 18:39.0 nearly one minute faster than the field's runner-up, Karena Garcia of Smith who came through the chute in 19:27.7.
Manfra anchored Suffolk to a fifth-place performance out the 21 teams that converged on Franklin Park. Smith won the event as the Pioneers had four runners finish in the top 10.
Conference wise, eight of the blue-and-gold's GNAC counterparts visited JP Saturday. Suffolk slid into second in the league race behind Colby Sawyer who took third overall.
Marin Stamer was the Rams' runner-up as the freshman completed the course in 20:47.9, good for 28th overall. Her classmate, Savannah Goddeeris put together a 36th place performance behind a time of 21:14.1.
Skyler Spanbauer (21:38.3) and Natalie Fay (22:39.4) completed the scoring Rams in 51st and 73rd, respectively, while Sarah Lawton (24:06.8) and Michelle Riley (25:12.6) also ran at Franklin Park Saturday.
Suffolk's own invitational served as final prep for the 2019 GNAC Championships, which are set for Saturday, Nov. 2 at the SJC Course in Standish, Maine.
