ROME, Ga, -- Berry College hosted the Viking Open today at the Clara Bowl.  Emory won the women's college event.  Unattached Jennifer Cook placed first in the 6K.  Freshman Rachel Dorris was 35th at 25:08 for Berry, which was seventh of 15 teams. FULL WOMEN'S RESULTS

The women's cross country team had two alumni – Jenn Cook and Sarah Walcott – return and race unattached in the 6K. Cook led the group of collegiate athletes and won the meet with a time of 22:18.  Walcott finished fourth overall in the meet with a finish of 23:29.

Junior Charlotte Collins ran second for the Lady Vikings with a time of 25:21.  Senior Lauren Nation clocked in a time of 25:48. 

With the cool fall weather, several runners finished with their fastest times ever for a 6K race: sophomore Nicole Fredette raced to the finish at 26:36; sophomore Leslie Stewart finished fifth for the Vikings at 27:27; and sophomore Hibah Abuhamdiah clocked in at 27.  Junior Katy Jordan finished out the top seven for Berry with a time of 27:43.

Freshman Stephanie Mimbs completed the event in 28:09.  Sophomore Kayla Heflin rana 29:42.  Freshman Claire Park dropped over 4 minutes from her last 6K with a time of 29:51.

Sophomore Annika Stryker and junior Allison Preg ran side-by-side until the finish, posting times of 32:16 and 32:21 respectively.  Stryker dropped over 3 minutes since her last 6K and was very pleased with her race.

"I improved a lot and got to run with Allison," Stryker said.  "I just had fun with it.  Viking Open was a great way to start fall break."

Berry will finish up its cross country season at the Southern Athletic Association Championship in Clinton, Miss., on Oct. 27 at 11 a.m.