HOPKINTON, N.H.— Junior Ali Thomas (Vero Beach, Fla.) lowered her career-best time by 34 seconds as the Babson College women's cross country team finished in 20th place at the NCAA East Region Championships at the Hopkinton Fair Grounds on Saturday afternoon.

The Beavers' 564 points mark the second-lowest total in program history at the NCAA regionals, trailing only the 490 points from a year ago, and the 20th place out of 40 schools is third-best in program history. No. 7 MIT finished with 27 points to cruise to the team title over runner-up Bates (81 points) to secure an automatic bid to next Saturday's Division III Championship meet.

Thomas finished the 6K race in a time of 24:30 to place 91st out of 231 runners. Sophomore Avery Butt (Orange, Conn.) posted a time of 25:29 to finish 112th, dropping 35 seconds off her best time, and senior Alyssa Keith (Newburyport, Mass.) and first-year Isabella Mozilo (Glendale, Calif.) crossed the line in 25:33 and 25:34 to wind up 117th and 118th, respectively. Mozilo's time was 40 second lower than her previous PR.

Rounding out the Beavers runners were junior Eujin Shin (Rochester Hills, Minn.) in 134th in a time of 26:35, and first-year Colleen Corman (Quaker Hill, Conn.) in 156h in a time of 27:28, her best time by 29 seconds.