The Colgate women’s track team got its 2009 season underway at the Southern Tier Collegiate Invitational hosted by Cornell University on Friday, January 9, and has a good sense of where it stands heading into the bulk of their schedule.

Though senior Curry Knox was the only Raider to win an individual event, there were many bright spots for the Raiders. Knox started the season on a high note, as she triumphed in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.78 in the first event of the day. She later clocked a 9.22 to place third in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing a mere .15 seconds behind leader Danielle Silas of Cornell.

Senior Ashley Mecone posted a third-place finish in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.37. Sophomore Emily Hepworth shaved a tenth of a second off her qualifying time and placed seventh with a 8.68, and sophomore Michelle Miller gave Colgate four out of the top eight finishers with her eighth-place finish.

Hepworth had the best time of any Raider in the 200-meter dash, posting a 29.35 to place fifth. Mecone, who crossed the finish line just .21 seconds behind Hepworth, finished seventh. Juniors Sarah Chabal (29.75) and Alisandra Denton (33.24) placed eighth and ninth in the race.

Racing in her first collegiate event, first-year Megan Snell notched a 1:06.33 to finish third in the 400-meter dash. Less than a second behind was Chabal, whose time of 1:07.11 was good for fifth.

In the 500-meter dash, it was Miller leading the way for the Raiders, placing third out of six with a time of 1:22.01.

Long distance runners Hilary Hooley and Kristen Kiraly represented the Raiders in the one-mile run, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. In the 1000-meter run Hooley clocked a 3:17.73 to finish seventh, and Kiraly clocked a 3:35.49 to finish ninth.

Junior Ashley Niness had the highest Colgate finish in the 800-meter run, and senior Jessica Kielty posted the best time of any Raider in the 3000-meter run.