Cross Country: Men qualify for NCAA Championship Meet
The men's cross country team qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships last Saturday by placing third out of 49 teams at the NCAA Division III Regional Cross Country Championship at Williams College. This will be the men's thir straight appearance at the tournament.The women's team placed 10th out of 51 competing schools.
"Our goal was always to make it to Nationals," coach John Evans said. "We consider ourselves one of the premier programs in New England. We'd really like to win it, but our first and foremost goal was always to make it to Nationals. That was, I think, the best Brandeis performance in probably 15 years."
Paul Norton '11 led the team with a time of 26 minutes flat, good for seventh place. Norton, who finished third at last season's Regional Championship and seventh at Nationals, has been hampered by an Achilles tendon injury for most of the season.
"I'm pretty much recovered," Norton said. "I'm still not training at 100- percent intensity ... at this point, it's not really my injury; it's a lack of preparation in terms of training and racing, which I think showed a little bit yesterday. All these guys have been training hard and racing all fall, and I haven't been able to do that."
Marc Boutin '12 finished the race in 26:16.3, 5.6 seconds ahead of Chris Brown '12. The duo placed 16th and 24th, respectively. Norton, Boutin, and Brown were all granted All-New England recognition due to their top-35 finishes.
"[Norton, Boutin and Brown] all ran great," Evans said. "[Norton] has obviously had some problems with injury this year, but coming back and being in the thick of things at the front of the race just shows you how tough he is and what a great leader he is. [Boutin] ran another great race. [Boutin] came back to the team and ran exceptionally well, and maybe he can get better at Nationals. And then [Brown] has just been so consistent. To be All-New England really put us in great position to qualify for Nationals."
Rounding out the meet for the men's team were Ed Colvin '14, who came in 38th with a time of 26:44.0; Dan Anastos '11, who finished with a time of 27:02.0 and placed 54th; Kerwin Vega '11, who finished right behind Anastos and came in 55th with a time of 27:02.9; and Devon Holgate '11, who placed 72nd with a time of 27:20.1.
The women's team was paced by Grayce Selig '11 and Kate Warwick '12, both of whom earned All-New England recognition. Selig placed 23rd with a time of 23:08.2, while Warwick grabbed 27th with a time of 23:14.0. Selig's time was good enough to qualify her for Nationals, the second year in a row that she will be the only runner from the women's team at the meet.
"[Selig] has had a great season," Evans said. "She had a tough race yesterday, but she still qualified for Nationals. Obviously, we're hoping for a lot more, but she didn't feel well during the race. . [Warwick] ran a great race. She missed qualifying for Nationals by literally a couple of seconds."
Two other seniors competed in the meet, their last as cross country runners. Marie Lemay '11 placed 45th with a time of 23:44.7, and Hannah Lindholm '11 took 85th with a time of 24:48.0.
The Judges placed three other runners, including Amelia Lundkvist '14 with a time of 25:03.8, Erin Bisceglia '13 with a time of 25:13.2 and Victoria Sanford '14 with a time of 25:20.9.
"All the girls have made me proud with the way they've run this year," Evans said.
The NCAA Division III Championships at Wartburg College are to be held this Saturday at 11 a.m. for both the men's and women's cross country teams.
Speaking of the men's team's chances at nationals, Evans said, "We're going out there to be one of the top 10 or 15 teams in the country. . We're hoping to be the top New England team. We're hoping to be the team to beat MIT and Williams. We're hoping to be one of the top UAA teams in the country. We're getting better every week, and I think we're ready for a really good meet out in Nationals."
"On the right day, we're a top-10 team . and that's what we'll be shooting for," Norton added.
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