EARLYSVILLE, Va. – In a field that featured four teams either in the national rankings or receiving votes and a total of 14 regionally-ranked squads, the tandem of freshman Sofia Istnick and sophomore Arianna DeBoer placed in the top 35 at the Virginia XC23 Invitational on Saturday morning. Overall, William & Mary women's cross country placed four runners in the top 100 on the way to a 12th-place finish. 

The Tribe, ranked No. 13 in the Southeast Region, finished five spots ahead of Liberty, which received votes in the latest USTFCCCA's latest poll. As a team, W&M topped three other Southeast regionally-ranked counterparts: No. 5 Liberty, No. 10 Charlotte, and No. 15 Eastern Kentucky. Host team Virginia won the event with 32 points, while Ole Miss (110) and Kentucky (116) rounded out the top three. 
 
Istnick held strong down the stretch, leading the Tribe with a 28th-place showing in the field of 171. She finished in 17:30.8. DeBoer wasn't far behind, moving up four spots over the final split to cross the finish line in 33rd with a time of 17:36.0.
 
Sophomore Lucy Young finished 73rd for the Tribe in a time of 18:09.2, improving three spots late. Junior Annie Wicker placed 90th at 18:26.9

Up Next
The Tribe will run at the CAA Cross Country Championships in Newark, Del. at White Clay Creek State Park. The race is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 28 at 11 a.m.
 
Team Standings
1. Virginia
2. RV Ole Miss
3. #27 Kentucky
4. Virginia Tech
5. Wake Forest
6. Connecticut
7. Dartmouth
8. Penn
9. RV Texas
10 Boston University
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12. William & Mary
 
Top 5
1. Perri Bockrath (Kentucky) 13:41
2. Margot Appleton (Virginia) 13:47
3. Tori Herman (Kentucky) 13:47
4. Camryn Menninger (Virginia) 13:49
5. Mia Barnett (Virginia) 13:53
 
W&M Results
28. Sofia Istnick 17:30.8
33. Arianna DeBoer 17:36.0
73. Lucy Young 18:09.2
90. Annie Wicker 18:26.9
103. Jennifer Tsai 18:36.5
124. Catherine Garrison 18:55.1
126. Kelly Ann Sutterfield 18:55.9
130. Annika Griggs 19:01.6
136. Tessa Dobrinski 19:13.0
145. Emily Sell 19:24.4
158. Emily Morris 20:02.6
152. Hope Stephens 20:18.4