PRINCETON, N.J. - Senior Abigail Gugel finished fourth and was one of four Terriers in the top 13 to lead the Boston University women's cross country team to victory at the Princeton Invitational on Saturday at the West Windsor Fields.

BU totaled 53 points to finish well clear of second-place George Washington (94) and third-place La Salle (97). This is the Terriers' second team win of the year; they also won the season-opening Harry Lang Invitational at Colgate on Sept. 7. The Terriers also bested Columbia (134), which entered the weekend ranked second in the Northeast Region.

"I felt like we had a shot to be top three," head coach Paul Spangler said, "since La Salle and GW had beaten us at Paul Short. We put Joceline Wind in her first cross country race here after a long track season in Europe. I felt like if she ran to her potential we'd have a shot, and they all ran well." 

Gugel crossed the finish line with a 6.17K time of 21:21.2, just ahead of freshman Sophia Jacobs-Townsley (21:28.5) in seventh. Freshman Andrea Claseson (21:34.4) and junior Corrine Batsu (21:39.4) were 12th and 13th, respectively, while Wind placed 29th in her collegiate debut with a time of 22:15.7.

"I thought Abigail was great," Spangler said. "We went out a bit conservative today. We wanted Abigal and the others up front to be patient. After two miles we let them go and Abigail got in there and mixed it up. I was really pleased with her performance."

Jacobs-Townsley, the reigning Patriot League Runner and Rookie of the Week, turned in her second straight strong performance after leading the Terriers at the Paul Short Run on Oct. 5.

"Sophia was pretty good in high school and has come in and bought into the system and really thrived," Spangler said. "She has a great work ethic and has been a great role model. I'm happy to see her continue to improve and make a name for herself in the conference."

Spangler was also quick to praise Wind's performance in her first collegiate cross country meet.

"Joceline's performance was huge," Spangler said. "To have her as our fifth today was so important. She could be a big contributor for us. She was a little tentative at first since this was her first 6K race, but once she realized she'd be okay, she passed a lot of people in the final kilometer. I think she'll get better over the next couple weeks heading into the conference meet."

Junior Laura Parkinson finished 53rd with a time of 22:42.9 while classmate Stephanie Forbes crossed the finish line in 23:08.6 to place 80th. Sophomore Gabriela Yiangou turned in a time of 23:20.2, followed by sophomore Angela Castronuovo (23:33.9), junior Veronica Kriss (23:39.2), sophomore Stephanie Casaletto (23:43.3) and sophomore Meghan Convery (24:05.0).
 
"We were 1:30 between our 1 and 5 at Paul Short, and today that gap was 50 seconds," Spangler said. "Looking at the conference, a lot of the teams have a little better depth than us while our strength is up front. If our fifth can be closer to our fourth, we'll have a good squad going into the conference championship."

The Terriers will return to the site of their victory at the Harry Lang Invitational when they race at the Patriot League Championship on Nov. 2.

"This win at Princeton gives them a lot of confidence and motivation for the conference meet," Spangler said. "At the end of the day, there's a lot of teams that think they can win and we have to go in knowing it can be anybody's race. We can't go in with any guarantees, but today ws a confidence builder."