DARTMOUTH, Mass. — Suffolk's women's cross country secured its best finish in program history at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational as the Rams secured 11th at the Robert Dowd Cross Country Course Saturday.

The Rams finished with a combined score of 326 to claim 11th in the 36-team field. The one spot out of the top-10 marked the second-best result of a NCAA Division III team at the 52nd edition of the annual meet behind only Connecticut College that took fourth. 

On top of its seven-runner contingent in the gold race, Suffolk was represented by Rams in the navy, sub-varsity 6k.

SUFFOLK SCORERS – GOLDEN GIRLS (VARISTY HEAT)

• Sofia Moukaddem was the fifth-best DIII runner at the event. Overall, Suffolk's junior finished 33rd with a personal-best 6k time of 22:29.6.  
• Grace Miller crossed the line in 22:46:8, good for 48th in her first collegiate 6k.
• Tess Drury finished 81st behind a 23:25.6 effort, while Amy Pattelena rounded out Suffolk's finishers in the top 100 with a 93rd-place performance as she came through the chute in 23:43.3. 
• Pagie Estphan (24:09:1), Chloe Koo (24:46:40), and Cassie Middleton (25:35:2) all placed within the top 200 runners of the 275-runner field.

SUFFOLK SCORERS – NAVY NOTES (SUB-VARSITY HEAT)

• Katelyn Porter paced the group, crossing in 24:49:4 to place 29th.
• Gina Cappello (25:45:2) Cassie Silkoff (25:55:8), Megan Dunn (25:59:9), Kathleen Sullivan (26:51:4), and Laina Frasier (26:52:0) took spots in the top 100.
•  Allison Martin (27:51:3), Maria Gallant (30:15:0), Jaenelle Bryant (30:31:0), Kaitlyn Cullen (32:43:1), and Katarina Ferreira (34:41:3) donned the blue-and-gold in the field of 169 runners. rounded out the field for the blue-and-gold; all finished within the top 170 runners.

RAMS RECORDS

• Moukaddem had the best showing for a Ram at the event with a personal-best 6k time of 22:29:6.

DEBUTS

• Cullen, Frasier, Koo, Martin, Miller, Porter, Silkoff, Sullivan, Middelton raced in their first collegiate 6k.
• The 6k marked Drury's Suffolk debut.

NOTEWORTHY

• The Rams raced at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational for the sixth time in program history and the first since 2022.
• The UMass Dartmouth Invitational was a 6k course for the first time. 
• The 11th-place finish is the highest Suffolk has finished as a team at the event, passing the 12th-place finish in 2019.
• Every runner competed at the event for the first time in their collegiate careers.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Rams head to Colfax, Wisconsin to take part in the Bluegold Invite at the Whitetail Golf Course on Friday, Oct. 3.