SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Bard College women's cross country team placed fifth at the Western New England Invitational on Saturday, the best finish for Bard at the event in five years.

Complete results

"The goal for this meet was to switch to some different race tactics as we gear up for the Liberty League Championships," Bard coach Billy Poole-Harris said. "We were coming off a nice built-in break, so we accounted for that going into the meet."

Natasha Cameron led the way for Bard, placing 14th overall.

"Natasha and Gillian (Randall) worked in tandem at the beginning of the race," Poole-Harris said. "We're proud to finish fifth, highest finish in five years here. Mayerli Collantes Cook, Rose Battista and Lisbet Jackson were the core group that really allowed us to finish fifth. These young women battled through a lot to put the team in position. We are really excited about this team come late October."

The Liberty League Championships are next, on Oct. 30 in Saratoga.