NEC Release
Complete Individual Results

PLAINVILLE, Mass. – The LIU women's cross country teams had an outstanding performance at the 2020-21 Northeast Conference cross country championships Sunday. The Sharks finished fifth out of seven teams, and had two runners finish in the top ten. It is one of the best finishes for the women's cross country team in nearly two decades.
 
Junior Ralitsa Mihaylova and sophomore Lexi Smith finished fifth and sixth, with times of 18:10.50 and 18:12.10, two of the highest finishes for LIU runners in over a decade. The duo, who averaged a 5:52 mile pace, were named first team All-NEC for their efforts.
 
"Our women had a phenomenal day today," head coach Chris Sauer said. "Ralitsa and Alexandra both ran incredible races, and managed some of the highest finishes that LIU has seen in well over a decade. Emily Ginty ran a very mature race for her first time running in a collegiate field, she stuck to the plan, used her teammate Ainhoa Brea perfectly, and recorded her best 5k ever. I also really want to mention Anita Mikowski. She hasn't raced in 18 months and was sick for nearly a month at the end of last semester and still managed to break 20-minutes and help us get to our best team finish in almost 20 years."
 
Freshman Emily Ginty cracked the top 30 as well. Coming in 26th overall, with a time of 19:19.50. Two other runners made the top 40 cutoff: junior Anita Mikowski (32nd – 19:50.90) and sophomore Ainhoa Brea (34th – 19:56.30).  Senior Stephanie Reyes finished with a time of 23:01.80, good for 58th.