Lock Haven, PA. - It was the first look at the 2025 NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Cross Country Championships course for the Wheeling University Women's Cross Country team as they competed at the Lock Haven Invitational on Saturday. As a team, the Cardinals placed 10th in the field with 212 points, but were led by several strong individual performances. Wheeling had one top 10 finisher, while placing two in the top 40 in the field of several strong regional teams.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Madison Conrad, who continued her early-season dominance with a second straight top-10 finish. She would end up taking 5th overall with a time of 23:56.2, setting a new collegiate PR by just over 50 seconds. She started her day off strong, staying with the top of the pack for the first 3.5K of the race, running splits of 6:02.1 (1.6K), 11:38.3 (2.9K), and 13:50.6 (3.5K). She sat in second place up to that point, but by the 4.8K mark she dropped two spots into fourth as her time approached the 20-minute mark. It was a sprint over the final 1.2K of the race, and Conrad would run the stretch in 4:27.6 and kept her place in the top five. It brought her to her final time and a fifth place finish in the field. She would be the top runner from the Mountain East Conference (MEC), and finished third among Atlantic Regional Competition.
The other two Cardinals to crack the top 40 were senior Gabby Baiano and freshman Lucy Banks. Baiano would take 37th overall and was with the top of the pack through the first 1.6K, running a time of 6:26.4, sitting just 24 seconds off pace for the lead. She would end up taking 37th in the field with a time of 26:29.6 as she made her 6K debut for the 2025 season. For Banks, it was a PR performance as she finished 40th with a time of 26:43.7 to crack the top 40 of the event. It was a big PR for the freshman, who shaved over a minute off her 6K performance at the Bethany Invitational. Banks has gradually improved her mile pace each time out and looks to continue shaving time as she prepares for the MEC Women's Cross Country Championships.
Rounding out the field for the Cardinals were Jezabella Cohen and Jade Trowell, who finished 82nd and 83rd respectively. For Cohen, she duplicated her 6K performance from two weeks ago, running a time of 34:22.5 at the event. She was able to battle back after a slow start, running a time of 2:56.0 between the 2.9K mark and the 3.5K mark to climb the leaderboard. Rounding out the field was Jade Trowell, who started fast to put up a time of 34:22.8. She would run the first 1.6K in 7:41.0 and made it to the 15:46.9 mark by the 2.9K mark. She finished off her second career 6K event as she continues to grow on the course.
The Wheeling University Women's Cross Country team returns to action on Saturday, October 11th, when they take on the Carnegie Mellon Invitational at 10 AM.
