Penn-Trafford grad Chloe Bonson making a formidable Carnegie Mellon women's cross country team even stronger

When she entered Carnegie Mellon’s master’s degree program after graduating from Allegheny in three years, Chloe Bonson knew she would get a top-notch academic experience. Turns out the athletic experience should be pretty bountiful, too.

Bonson, a Penn-Trafford graduate, helped the Allegheny women win the Presidents’ Athletic Conference cross country title last fall. She also was selected to compete in the NCAA Division III meet, where she placed in the middle of the pack (159) in the 290-runner field.

She joins a Carnegie Mellon cross country team that has high expectations. Six of the Tartans’ top seven runners from last season’s NCAA qualifier return, and CMU entered the season ranked ninth in the USATFCCCA poll.

“Over the summer, just talking with the girls and, obviously, I was looking at their performances from the previous year, and I was like, I really hope I am in their scoring five,” Bonson said.

She has far exceeded that expectation. In the Tartans’ first two meets, she was their No. 1 runner, taking first overall at the Panther Open, hosted by Pitt, and third overall at the 11-team Robert Morris Invitational. Both of those races featured a number of Division I schools.

On both occasions, she was named the University Athletic Association’s Runner of the Week. In the latest USATFCCCA poll, the Tartans were up to seventh.

“We knew she was pretty good and she’d be a really nice addition,” Tartans coach Tim Connelly said. “I thought she’d be right up there. … I knew what we have (on the roster) would be a big benefit to her in terms of her long-term development, and I think she really appreciates having a really good team around her and people to train with every day.”

Bonson said she wasn’t always at the front of the pack. During her first two seasons at Allegheny, she said, she couldn’t break the 20-minute barrier in a 5K.

Then, last season, she broke the 17-minute barrier. She also qualified for the NCAA championships in the 5,000 meters during outdoor track and field season. She gave credit to former Gators coach Ben Mourer for making her into the runner she is now.

Mourer died in June as the result of an accident at his home, and Bonson said she draws inspiration from his memory.

“It (her improvement) is all because of Ben Mourer and his commitment to excellence and never settling,” she said, “and also understanding the athlete as a person. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Next up for the Tartans is the Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 3 at Lehigh, where they will face more Division I competition. The nonconference schedule will get CMU prepared for the gauntlet that is the UAA schedule. In the Sept. 17 poll, five UAA schools were ranked in the top 15: University of Chicago (third), NYU (fourth), CMU (seventh), Washington, Mo. (10th) and Emory (14th).

“The level of competition we have in the UAA conference is just a whole lot different than, say, the PAC,” Connelly said. “And she’s very excited about that.”

Bonson said the early results for her and the team have heightened their already-lofty expectations.

“I initially was like, it would be really cool to be an All-American,” she said. “And now, I’m sort of like, I think it’s definitely a possibility. … Can I be in the top 15? The top 10? I’m sort of trying to push the limits of what I can do.

“Every week (the team) is like, what can we do? Can we push even harder? That definitely contributes to pushing my limits individually, too.”