CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Brandeis University cross country teams had a pair of All-Association performances at today's University Athletic Association championships held at Case Western Reserve University. Junior Paul Norton (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional) was the runner-up in the men's race to earn first-team honors as the Judges finished in fifth place, while senior Ally Connolly (Concord, N.H./Concord) earned second-team honors by placing 14th for the women, who came in fourth.
Norton, who completed the eight-kilometer race with a time of 26:19.8, finished 13 seconds behind the winner, Zach Maher of NYU. His second-place finish was the best by a Brandeis runner since 2004, when Dan Crespin '05 was also the runner-up. Norton earns his first All-UAA honor in cross country, having just missed second-team honors with a 15th-place finish in 2008.
The men's UAA field also boasted four nationally-ranked teams. The 23rd-ranked Judges scored 120 points to finish fifth. No. 7 NYU, the defending UAA and national champions, won the meet with a score of 41, followed by No. 12 Emory and No. 19 Carnegie Mellon, who tied for second with 67 points. Unranked Washington University was fourth with 92 points. The Judges dropped a stop after finishing fourth last year.
After Norton, sophomore Chris Brown (No. Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) was the team's next finisher in 19th place, 50 seconds behind Norton with a time of 27:09.77. He finished up four spots from 2008. Last year's UAA Rookie of the Year, sophomore Marc Boutin (Westford, Mass./Westford Acad.) was 30th overall, down 11 spots, with a time of 27:36.01. Junior Dan Anastos (Peabody, Mass./Peabody) improved 21 places to 33rd overall in 27:39.92, while classmate Kerwin Vega (Waltham, Mass./Waltham) was the squad's final scorer in 41st place with a time of 27:58.36.
Brandeis is next in action in two weeks at the NCAA Division III Regional championships at Twin Brook Golf Course in Maine.