Both Brandeis cross country teams performed well at the Open New England Championships at Franklin Park in Boston over the weekend.
The men finished 11th overall, third amongst Division III schools, while the women were 20th overall and sixth in Division III. This was the best showing for the men since 1998 when they also took 11th place.
Co-captain Paul Norton ’11 was one of the top finishers, coming in sixth overall out of 320 runners and second among Division III runners. With a time of 24:46 on the 8K course, he was just 24 seconds behind first place and 5 seconds out of third. Norton’s finish was the top individual performance by a Brandeis runner since at least 1995. In honor of his great performance on the course and his leading his team to a strong finish, Norton was named one of the UAA Athletes of the Week. This is the second time he has received this honor this season.
Chris Brown ’12 finished 43rd overall and 12th of the Division III runners with a time of 25:39.
Marc Boutin ’12 came in just four seconds behind his classmate to give the Judges three top 50 finishers. Boutin was 15th among Division III runners.
The final two Brandeis competitors, Devon Holgate ’11 and Dan Anastos ’11 came in 113th and 133rd respectively with times of 26:19 and 26:27. They were 37th and 44th among Division III runners.
With the showing over the weekend the men are now ranked third among Division III schools in the region and 24th nationally. Norton also holds the second best time in the UAA so far this year, just eight seconds behind the first place runner from Emory.
The women were paced by Grayce Selig ’11, who ran the 5K course in 18:47, and finished 46th overall and 11th among Division III runners.
Selig was mentioned by the UAA as one of the Outstanding Athletes this week thanks to her help leading the Judges to the 20th place finish.
Beth Pisarik ’10 was the next finisher for the Judges, coming in 65th overall and 23rd in the Division III with a time of 19:03.
Classmate Ally Connolly was 117th overall and 42nd among Division III runners with a time of 19:38 while Hannah Lindholm ’11 was just eight seconds behind her for a 128th place overall and 45th in the Division. Molly Shanley ’12 ran a 20:31 for a 194th place finish overall and 74th among Division III runners.
The women are currently ranked sixth in the region among Division III squads but dropped 12 places in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll to 29th among Division III teams nationwide.
Both the men and women will be heading up to Albany this weekend to participate in the University of Albany Invitational Saturday.
After that, they will enjoy a two-week break in the action before the UAA Championships on Halloween in Cleveland.
