This past weekend, the men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the 2017 NCAA Division III New England Championships in Gorham, ME, hosted by the University of Southern Maine.
The men’s cross country team placed sixth overall in the tournament. Captain Ryan Stender ’18 led the Judges, completing the eight-kilometer course in 25:37.2 to earn sixth place. This was the best finish by a Brandeis runner at the New England tournament since 2009, when Paul Norton ’11 placed third overall. This was Stender’s second time running in the meet and his third time running nationally for the Judges, as he also competed at the 2016 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The other two Captains also placed at the NCAA meet. Mitchell Hutton ’18 placed 27th overall, earning his second career All-Region honor with a time of 26:05.1. Classmate Liam Garvey ’18 finished 38th with a time of 26:16.1. Garvey’s finish was his best race of the season and his best race at a regionals meet in his career.
The judges had four other runners place to earn them an overall sixth place win with 215 points. In his first regional championship, Luke Ostrander ’21 placed 43rd with a time of 26:19.2, while Dan Curley ’20 rounded out Brandeis’ top five with a 101st place finish on a 27:11.6 time. Max Whitmore ’18 placed 110th finishing in 27:17.4, while Mark Murdy ’21 completed the Judges’ seven with a 133rd place finish overall with a time of 27:45.0
The women’s team finished eighth overall at the regional championship meet. The Judges were led by two-time All-American Emily Bryson ’19 who finished ninth overall in the six-kilometer race with a time of 21:12.8. The finish was Bryson’s best performance at the meet in the past three years. Bryson’s twin sister, Julia Bryson ’19, was named All-New England, finishing 24th in the meet with a time of 22:02.5. The finish was not only Julia Bryson’s best finish at the New England Championships but her fastest completion of a 6k cross-country race.
Five other Judges for the women’s squad finished strong in the competition for the team’s overall eighth place with 287 points out of the 56 schools that participated in the championship meet. Naimh Kenney ’21 finished an incredible first year of college cross-country with her fastest time in a 6k this season, despite her being plagued with injuries. Kenney earned a 62nd place finish with a time of 22:41.7. Meaghan Barry ’19 came in fourth for the Judges and 77th overall with a time of 23:03.4 for her best 6k performance of the season. The final scorer for the Judges was team captain Kyra Shreeve ’18, who finished her career with a time of 23:39.6 for a 120th overall placement. The final two Judges to round out the team were Doyin Ogundiran ’19 who finished 160th with a time of 24:02.6 and Danielle Berteaux ’20 who finished with a 24:57.6 time earning a 225th place finish.
Representatives from both the Brandeis men’s and women’s cross country teams will be competing this coming Saturday, November 18th at Principia College in Elsa, IL, for the NCAA Division II National Championships. The men’s race will start at 11 a.m. and the women’s race will begin at noon. A live feed of the race can be found on the Brandeis Athletics website, http://www.brandeisjudges.com.
