DORCHESTER, Mass. -- First year Alice Najimy (Pittsfield, Mass.) led the Simmons University women's cross country team with a fifth-place finish at the Suffolk University Invitational today at historic Franklin Park in Dorchester, Mass. 

The Sharks finished ninth as a team in the five-kilometer race with 232 points. Emmanuel College (Mass.) won the team crown with 69 points, while Suffolk junior Emma Weisse won the individual title with a mark of 19:14 to finish 30 seconds ahead of the next closest finisher.

Najimy clocked in at 20:18 for Simmons and posted her fourth top-10 finish among collegiate competitors in as many races this season.

Sophomore Ellen Malloy (Acton, Mass.) registered a time of 23:34 to finish 60th for the Sharks, while senior Hannah Green (Blandford, Mass.) was seven seconds behind at 23:41 to finish 62nd. Junior Gabby Freeman (Newnan, Ga.) crossed the finish with a time of 23:56 to stand 65th and senior Carol Figueiredo (Norwood, Mass.) was right behind at 24:03 to finish 69th overall. Sophomore Chloe O'Hara (Westminster, Mass.) and junior Amelia Franklin (Bath, Maine) were separated by five seconds with O'Hara placing 94th (25:30) and Franklin 95th (25:35).

Simmons returns to action on Saturday, October 27 when it travels to Standish, Maine to compete in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship hosted by Saint Joseph's College (Maine) at the SJC Cross Country Trail.