NEW LONDON, Conn. – The men's and women's cross country teams could not escape the rainy weather that they saw at Keene State two weeks ago however, that did not stop both nationally ranked squads from putting down some solid performances.
Senior Ryan Stender (Amherst, Mass. / Amherst) led the men again today for the third time this season finishing eighth with a time of 25:31.7. Continuing the trend from the past two meets senior Mitchell Hutton (Villa Park, Calif. / Villa Park) was the second Judge to cross the line, capturing 17th in 25:57.0. The final of the team's three senior captains came across as the third runner, Liam Garvey (West Springfield, Mass. / West Springfield) continued to trend in the right direction going into the post season with a time of 26:26.3 and a 35th place showing. First year Luke Ostrander (Tacoma, Wash. / Bellarmine Prep) followed closely behind Garvey finishing within 1.5 seconds of him in 37th place with a time of 26:27.4. Fellow rookie fifth Mark Murdy (Plantsville, Conn. / Southington) was the team's fifth man today coming across the line in 26:47.4 for 55th. Sophomore Brian Gao (Hopkinton, Mass. / Hopkinton) had quite the race coming across in 61st in 26:51.5 as Brandeis's sixth runner. His run was a 3 second personal record over the 8K distance in arguably much tougher conditions than his previous best. Closing out the team's varsity seven was senior Brian Sheppard (Wayne, N.J. / Newark Acad.) in 65th with a time of 26:54.6. These were the best team places for both the final two runners this season. In the overall team standings the Judges were fifth out of 20 competing squads with a score of 142 points.
The women, running a 6-kilometer course for the first time this season, were led by the twin duo of sophomores Emily Bryson (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy) and Julia Bryson (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy). Emily was sixth overall in a time of 22:18.6, while Julia was 27th in 23:32.7. First year Niamh Kenney (Hanover, Mass./Hanover) continued her impressive rookie season with another race as third woman when she finished 46th in a time of 23:55.1. Junior Meaghan Barry (Marlborough, Mass. / Worcester Acad.) made a return to racing after sitting out at Keene State and placed 60th in a time of 24:14.9. Middle distance standout Doyin Ogundiran (Dix Hills, N.Y. / Half Hollow Hills East) added to her already notable cross-country season by finishing as the team's final scorer in 84th, crossing with a time of 24:37.0. The final two varsity spots were rounded out by first year Andrea Buldoc (Auburn, Mass. / Auburn) and junior Christine Minor (Alameda, Calif. / Alameda). Both came across timed in 25:44.8 and finished 142nd and 143rd, respectively. Notable top five scorer Danielle Bertaux unfortunately took a fall during an early portion of the race and was forced to drop out. The Judges placed sixth out of a 21 team field with a score of 185 and will look towards another strong showing when they take on some of the best teams in the country at the UAA championships in two weeks time.
Brandeis returns to action in two weeks when championship season begins with the UAA Cross Country Championships hosted by NYU on October 28th.