Wolfpack Women Edge Lorain at Black Bear Invitational

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - With Brooke Bertovich taking first place and the rest of the team posting strong finishes, the 2nd-ranked Westmoreland County Community College women's cross country team edged out #4 Lorain CC to win the Black Bear Invitational Saturday, hosted by Penn Highlands at the Path of the Flood trail in Johnstown.

In a tightly packed race throughout, Bertovich was the first to the finish line, posting a time of 21:49.37 to win the individual title and defeat the top two runners from Lorain, who both finished less than 10 seconds behind her. Lorain also had the fourth place runner, meaning Westmoreland needed several top 10 finishes to earn the win.

Carroll College's top runner came in fifth place, but the next four runners to break the tape would be sporting Wolfpack colors. Sophomore Olivia Jumper took sixth place in a time of 23:06.59 and first-year runner Jen Depree was next to cross inseventh place in 23:45.91. Westmoreland clinched its third Invitational win of the season when Nytasha Marteny (24:02.11) and Anna Rubino (24:04.9) raced across the finish line in eighth and ninth place, respectively, which also gave the Wolfpack their second win of the year over Lorain after Westmoreland narrowly won at their home invitational Sept. 11th.

Also running for Westmoreland Saturday was Molleigh Henderson, who finished 13th with a time of 25:46.8, which was a PR by 40 seconds, and Morgan Brown, who erased six minutes off her time from her first race at Garrett two weeks, as she finished in 14th place with a time of 30:58.76.

The Wolfpack are back on the trails again this coming Saturday, when they travel to Westminster, Md., to compete in the Lynx Invitational hosted by Carroll CC.