BOSTON, Mass. -- Brandeis University junior Paul Norton (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional) had one of the Judges' top performances in recent memory at the Open New England Championships at Franklin Park. The co-captain finished sixth overall out of 320 runners from Division I, II and III, and second among Division III runners, the team's best individual performance since at least 1995 according to the NEICAAAA web site. As a team, Brandeis finished in 11th place overall and third among DIII squads, their best showing since taking 11th place in 1998.
Norton completed the 8K race in 24:46, putting him 24 seconds off the winning pace, but just five seconds out of the top 3. Norton, who missed Open New Englands last year, finished in 116th place in his first try at the meet in 2007, giving him an improvement of 110 places in two years.
Sophomore Chris Brown (No. Chemlsford, Mass./Chelmsford)was the team's second finisher, placing 43rd overall and 12th among DIII runners. Classmate Marc Boutin (Westford, Mass./Westford Acad.) was just four seconds behind Brown to give the Judges three of the top 50 competitors, finishing 15th among DIII runners and 50th overall with a time of 25:43.
Juniors Devon Holgate (Cumberland, R.I./Cumberland) and Dan Anastos (Peabody, Mass./Peabody Veterans) rounded out the Brandeis scorers. Holgate was 113th overall (37th DIII) in 26:19, while Anastos was 133rd (44th DIII) with a time of 26:27.