Before a summary of Cross-country, a brief primer: For the uninitiated, mens collegiate cross-country races are typically about 8km long, or five miles and the womens races last around 5 km, or approximately 3 miles. For our readers education, we will include per/mile times for our top runners so that the Brandeis community can more accurately appreciate how fast these athletes run.
Overall, both the Mens and Womens Cross Country Teams posted strong showings in their inaugural meet of the fall 2005 season. At the Umass-Dartmouth Invitational the women finished tenth out of thirty-five teams while the men posted an eleventh-place mark from a field of thirty-three schools.
The performance of the Brandeis Womens team was particularly impressive considering the absence of captain Sarah Romain 06 and Megan Bisceglia 07, two of the Judges top runners. Katy Agule 09, running in her first collegiate meet no less, finished in the top spot for the Judges with a time of 19:45 (6:22/mile) giving her the 33rd overall mark. Just one second behind, Camille Stevens-Rumann 07 garnered the 34th spot.
The Brandeis womens team also bunched three runners a bit later in the field as Mary Schillinger 07 and Emily Terrin 08 posted matching 20:17 times (6:32/mile) for 69th and 70th place overall. Coming in four seconds later was Alyssa Ross 07 who captured 72nd place at 20:21 (6:33/mile). [For those
non-runners, four seconds feels like a lot at the end of a race even if you were only one second slower per mile overall].
For the men, Joel Sunshine 07 finished 22nd overall and 16th amongst collegiate runners with a time of 25:56 (5:12 mile) [Non-collegiate/non-affiliated runners may enter an invitational unattached for their own interest and enjoyment. At Umass-Dartmouth the four top times were notched by unattached runners with first place going to Hirotaka Tanaka with a time of 24:12 (4:51 mile)].
Two-time 1500m All-American Ryan Parker 05 finished 44th overall (38th collegiately) with a time of 26:27 (5:18 mile). Dan Suher 08 finished sixteen seconds behind for a 63rd overall finish, 26:43 (5: 22), and Matt Jennings 09 crossed the finish at 27:19 (5:28 mile) to capture 93rd place in his first college meet. Fellow class of 09 runner Mike Stone finished in 27:31 (5:31) and finished 103rd overall. Up next for the Judges is the Harrier Classic in Boston on June 24th.
Wire Services and the Umass-Dartmouth website were used to compile this report.
