Mike O’Brien ‘23

Chief Sports Editor

On Oct. 31st, the Holy Cross women’s cross country team travelled to Lehigh University to compete in the Patriot League Championship meet, placing sixth out of 10 teams. The team improved upon their seventh place finish from last year, scoring 191 points to edge out Lafayette, Loyola Maryland, Colgate, and American. 

The course was in less than pristine condition for the runners, as Bethlehem, PA was hit with heavy rains leading up to the race, challenging the teams to compete in muddy and damp conditions. 

The team was led by junior Eve Feuerbach, who placed sixth out of 98 runners, finishing the 6K course in a time of 21:41. Feuerbach’s performance was enough to earn her both First Team All Patriot League and Crusader of the Week honors. Her sixth place finish was the highest by a Crusader since Jenna Gasparrini’s second place result, running 21:57 for the 6K in 2019.

Feuerbach’s run at PLC’s is another strong continuation of her season, which includes a ninth place finish out of 173 runners at the National Catholic Invitational hosted by Notre Dame. Speaking on her performance at Patriots, Feuerbach said “Going into the race I was definitely nervous because this was the biggest race of the season with lots of good competition. I tried not to psych myself out too much and instead focused on all the work I’ve put in up to this moment. My goal was top 15 so that was in the back of my mind the entire race and motivated me to stick with the top pack of women. I am extremely proud of my performance and couldn’t have done it without the support of my teammates and coaches.”

Following Feuerbach was a trio of upperclassmen; senior Emily Foley ran 23:02 for 46th place, junior Paige Davis ran 23:19 for 55th place, and senior Michaela Halloran ran 23:23 for 58th place. This tight split of having three runners just 20 seconds apart paired with Feuerbach’s sixth place finish helped to solidify HC’s sixth place team finish. 

Recalling her experience running at her last Patriot League Championship as a senior, Emily Foley said “Being part of the Patriot League cross country championship team has been an honor these past few years. Competing year after year in this conference, you start to see familiar faces of athletes and the talent is so inspiring. We were quite happy with our team’s finish in sixth place, but it was Eve Feuerbach earning sixth place and First Team All-Patriot League honors that brought the most pride for our team. I’m so proud of this team, which has become more of a family. We’re getting geared up and ready to race one more time together at NCAA Regionals on Nov. 12!”

Despite only having seven runners compete compared to schools such as Boston University and Navy having 12 women toe the line, Holy Cross ran tough as a team and produced a phenomenal individual performance. The team will conclude their season at the NCAA DI Women’s Cross Country Regional Championship on Nov. 12 at Franklin Park in Boston.