CASTLETON, Vt. – On the legs of several new runners, the Castleton women's cross country team earned a second-place tie at the Castleton Invitational Friday afternoon.
 
It was sophomore Eden Goldstein taking over in her first race, earning a team-best seventh place finish with a time of 22:23 (7:12 mile time) for the Spartans. Goldstein was in the hunt for a top-3 finish until the end of the race, crossing the line just 20 seconds behind the eventual winner out of Western Connecticut.
 
Following closely behind Goldstein were freshmen Amber Cuthbert and Annika Saunus, who finished in 12^th and 14^th with times of 24:37 (7:55 mile time) and 25:26 (8:11 mile time) respectively.
 
Rounding out the scoring for Castleton was Taylor Ross (17^th — 27:14) and Myra Castleton (19^th — 29:40). Junior Charlotte Morrison finished in 20^th with a time of 31:10 but was not counted toward the scoring.
 
Eastern Connecticut earned first place with six of their runners finishing in the top 10 en route to 26 points. Castleton's tie was with Western Connecticut, who were led by first place finisher Hope Johnsky.
 
The Spartans are back in action next Saturday, Sept. 11 when they head to Plattsburgh to compete in the Cardinal Classic, with the women's race beginning at 11:45 A.M.