ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Julianne Bleskoski of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's cross country team continued her outstanding fall season with a third straight individual victory, taking first place in the DIII Gold 6000-meter race at the Augustana Interregional Invitational today. Meanwhile, a separate group of Engineer runners finished first out of 22 teams at the Western New England Golden Bear Invitational in Springfield, Mass.

Bleskoski again highlighted of the day for the Engineers in Illinois, capturing the individual crown with a winning time of 20:47.4. She broke through the pack after the opening mile of the 6K race, as she posted consistent splits of 5:47.1 through the first mile, 10:29.0 at the 3K mark, and 15:41.2 at 4.6 kilometers before closing in 5:06.2 over the final stretch.

Claudia Wolf followed in 59th place with a time of 23:01.8, maintaining a strong effort throughout with 5:53.0 for her opening mile and 11:15.6 at 3K. Gianna Coryea was next across in 100th place (23:24.2), with splits of 5:57.9 for the opening mile and 11:28.4 at 3K.

Alyse Karanian placed 123rd in 23:39.1, just ahead of teammates Erin vonHousen (145th, 23:53.8) and Charlotte Koutalidis (149th, 23:56.7). Francesca Mavricos rounded out the seven RPI finishers with a time of 24:08.3.

The Engineers' depth was also on display at the Golden Bear Invitational in Springfield., with five runners crack the top 25 in the 6K field. Karina Martinez led the way with a ninth-place finish in 24:01.75, followed closely by Kaitlyn Fleming in 16th at 24:26.81. Theresa O'Connor (19th, 24:29.30), Josie Howard (20th, 24:30.37), and Alice Einhorn (22nd, 24:34.35) all finished within 33 seconds of Martinez, highlighting RPI's strong team pack running.

The Engineers will take the next weekend off before setting their sights on the Liberty League Championship in Saturday, November 1 in Potsdam, NY.