MANCHESTER, Conn. – Junior Cat Dacey earned the first individual win of her collegiate cross country career to lead the Union College women's cross country team to a third-place finish at the Bantam Cross Country Invitational, hosted by Trinity (Conn.) College at Wickham Park on Saturday.
 
Led by several great performances, Union took third out of eight teams with a score of 67, just four points back of second-place Trinity and well ahead of fourth-place Keene State. Westfield State won the event with 46 total points.
 
Dacey battled the humid conditions and a hilly course on Saturday, jumping out to an early lead and pacing the 77-runner field for the entirety of the race. She led Hartford's Hailey Marcello by just over a second after 2100 meters and increased her lead the rest of the way, finishing in 20:04.40 on the 5K course to win by over two seconds.
 
In addition to Dacey's win, three other Garnet Chargers boasted top-20 finishes as well on the day. Junior Allison Malatesta took seventh place with a time of 21:27.10, moving up two spots from the 2100-meter split. First-year Amelia Wagner crossed the line in 22:12.60 to place 16th overall, just a few seconds ahead of junior Caroline Kelly, who nabbed the 19th spot with a time of 22:17.30.
 
Junior Gabby Gavala rounded out Union's top-five scorers, finishing in 22:54.70 to earn a top-25 finish as well.

Union will return to action next Saturday at the RPI Harvest Classic in Saratoga Springs.
 
Complete Union Results:
Cat Dacey – 20:04.40 (1st)
Allison Malatesta – 21:27.10 (7th)
Amelia Wagner – 22:12.60 (16th)
Caroline Kelly – 22:17.30 (18th)
Gabby Gavala – 22:54.70 (25th)
Annabel Dobash – 22:58.70 (26th)
Alayna Gibson – 23:02.60 (29th)
Emilie Rosecan – 23:13.80 (30th)
Kasey McGerald – 23:53.80 (36th)
Ella McCarthy – 24:22.40 (40th)
Caroline Stanton – 26:14.60 (51st)