UDC Women’s Cross Country Concludes Season with 8th Place Showing at East Coast Conference Championship

ROCHESTER, NY – The University of the District of Columbia women's cross country team concluded its season with the East Coast Conference Championship event on Saturday, November 3^rd at the Matt St. James Cross Country Trails on the campus of Roberts Wesleyan College.

The Firebirds placed 8^th of nine teams at this 5K event with a team score of 247, an overall time of 136:28.5, and an average run time of 27:17.7.

Junior Cierra Roberts paced UDC with a personal-best run time of 21:50.6, shattering her previous season-best time of 23:10.30. This was the fastest 5K run time by a Firebird since Simone Grant ('16) ran a 21:41 at Delaware State on October 17^th, 2014. Also, it marked the fastest time ever by a UDC runner in two years of running at the Roberts Wesleyan course (2016 and 2018), and the 2^nd fastest UDC run at the ECC Championship event which the Firebirds have been competing in since 2011. Roberts placed 37^th of 78 overall.

Next for UDC was a pack of seven Firebirds that finished 66^th through 72^nd in a span of just under four minutes. Sophomore Shaneika Bowra was the first of that pack, finishing in 28:16.7, followed less than a second later by sophomore Aisha Dozier. Ten seconds after Dozier, junior Shannel Hibbert crossed the finish line in 28:27.4, followed by junior Shakeithia Nicholson (29:36.4), freshman Shanise Rose (30:26.0), senior Kenlyn Duncan (30:26.2) and freshman Patricia McLean (32:07.0).

Also finishing for the Firebirds were freshmen Nyla Houston and Bosson-Sora Ahouti in 33:50.0 and 34:41.7, respectively.

The Firebirds will now switch gears as they prepare for the Indoor Track & Field season beginning December 1^st with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore's Cappy Anderson Invitational.