MECHANICSVILLE, Va. – It what was arguably one of the fastest Atlantic 10 Women's Cross Country Championships in league history, Rhode Island's Lotte Black made sure she had a record-setting performance and Duquesne found its way back onto the podium. The Dukes won their third A-10 title Saturday morning at Pole Green Park just outside of Richmond, Va.
 
Black finished with the fastest time in A-10 history, clocking in at 16:37.4, obliterating the previous record of 16:54.6 set by George Mason's Bethany Sachtleben at Pole Green Park in 2013. It was also a personal record for Black. Mason's Annabelle Eastman, who finished second on Saturday, also surpassed Sachtleben with a 16:54.5 time.
 
For Duquesne, the championship title was the first time the Dukes took the trophy since 2013 and 2014 when they won back-to-back titles. DU scored 92 points to place first. They were paced by Brianna Schwartz who placed seventh with a time of 17:37.6. Grace Sisson placed 20^th overall and second for the Dukes at 18:09.7 and Tori Kocsis was 21^st at 18:09.4, just behind Sisson. Ava Pietrzyk placed 23rd overall at 18:14.6,just before Rachel Valotta (25^th – 18:20.6) and Brooke Krally (42^nd – 18:41.5), who rounded out the top six for Duquesne.

Duquesne coach Jim Lear was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year his first A-10 coaching honor on the women's side. Lear, who has a long association with the Dukes was the 2005 A-10 Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year.
 
Dayton finished second with 94 points and George Washington was third with 99 points. George Mason (100), Massachusetts (114) and last year's champion La Salle (125) finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. Richmond and Rhode Island rounded out the top eight finishing teams.

Richmond's Elizabeth Stockman was named A-10 Rookie of the Year as the top finishing freshman. She placed eighth overall with a time of 17:38.4.
 
The race was so fast, that in addition to record-setting times by Black and Eastman, the third place-finisher, La Salle's Eleanor Mancini, clocked in 17:13.8 which was also good enough to be a top-20 time in A-10 history.