ATTLEBORO, Mass.—The Babson College women's cross country team opened the 2022 campaign on Friday evening with a sixth-place finish at the 8th Annual Wheaton & Babson Season Opener at the Mark Coogan Course at Highland Park.

Smith College took the team title in the six-team event with 39 points, edging out Springfield (44) for second, followed by Wheaton (93) in third and Bridgewater State (101) in fourth. The Beavers finished with 125 points, just six points back of fifth-place Clark (119).

Babson had two first-years as top-20 finishers among the 63 competitors in the 3K race, as Alexandra Kirkpatrick (Middleborough, Mass.) placed 15th with a time of 12:39 and Chloe Clifford (Marshfield, Mass.) came across the line 18th in 12:48.

Senior Nicole Johns (Peabody, Mass.), the only returning veteran for the Beavers, finished 25th in a time of 12:58. First-year Ali Thomas (Vero Beach, Fla.) came in 33rd in a time of 13:19, followed by classmate Avery Butt (Orange, Conn.) in 54th in 14:35 to round out the Beaver scorers.

Babson returns to action on September 17 when it travels to the UMass Dartmouth Invitational.