From Washington University Athletics

Senior Ellen Toennies became the sixth individual in Washington University in St. Louis women's cross country history to race to a top-10 finish to lead the Bears to a fifth-place team finish at the 2015 NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championships Saturday at Lake Breeze Golf Club. 

The WashU women had five runners in the top-100 of the 280-person race, scoring 193 points. Williams College won the women's team title with 81 points. Just 14 points separated the second- through fifth-place teams as SUNY Geneseo (179) and MIT (182) finished second and third, respectively. WashU was edged by three-time defending champion Johns Hopkins University (188) for the fourth-place spot. It is the ninth time in WashU history that the Bears have finished in the top-five at the national meet.

Toennies ran a season-best 6K time of 21:33.8 to finish ninth overall for All-America honors. It is the third year in a row and fourth time in the last five years that WashU has had a runner finish in the top-10 of the women's race. 

RESULTS

WOMEN – 6K (280 runners)
1. Abrah Masterson (Cornell College) – 21:23.1
9. Ellen Toennies – 21:33.8
47. Aly Wayne – 21:54.1
56. Sarah Curci – 22:00.7
79. Ellie Degen – 22:12.6
98. Alison Lindsay – 22:20.4
126. Anna Maurer – 22:31.1  
175. Bri Tiffany – 22:49.8