On Friday at  Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx,  the St. John’s cross-country team came in 7^th place at the Metropolitan Championships.

Freshman Isobel Batt-Doyle and junior Stephanie Van Pelt recorded top-10 individual finishes. “I was really happy with seventh place. My goal was to get into the top-10 and for Stephanie and I to stick together, so for us to get seventh and eighth is amazing. It’s a good confidence boost with the BIG EAST Championship coming up in just a few weeks,” Isobel Batt-Doyle said.  This was the  first time since 2011 the team placed a runner in the top-10 at the Metropolitan Championships.

Junior Veronica Thompson  came in 43^rd place out of 109. Coming up not far behind and running side-by-side was junior Michelle Van Pelt (58^th place) and senior Claire Mooney, who competed in her first career cross-country race (59thplace).

Mooney is originally a track star and competes in the indoors 500-meter and the outdoor-meter. She is defending the Big East in these two races as well as a two time defending ECAC 500-meter champion.

Coming off an injury, junior Kerri Butler came in 62^nd place with a time of 20.50. Junior Tiffany Evanego ran a 21:58 and came in 78^th. Lastly to help roundup the last five points, freshman Melissa Hidalgo came in 94^th place with a time of 23:16.