Men's x-country takes second place at Keene State

Matthew Driben leads a pack of three Judges at the Wellesley meet.
MAtthew Driben '22 (Photo by Sportspix.com / Lewis Glass)

KEENE, N.H. – The Brandeis University women's cross country team won a meet for the second time in three races, while the Brandeis men placed second today at the Keene State Invitational.

The women put all five of their scoring runners among the top 10 finishers over the five-kilometer course, with six of the top 15 and seven of the top 35. Leading the way for the second time this season was senior Erin Magill (South Duxbury, Vt. / Harwood Union), who placed second overall. It was her best finish of the season and third time among the top five runners. Magill covered the course in 18:41.0, the second-fastest 5K of her career and her best on this course by three seconds.

In the second position for the Judges, 25 seconds behind Magill, was senior Natalie Hattan (Sugar Land, Texas/Fort Bend Clemente), who placed third overall with a time of 19:05.8. It was also her second-fastest career 5K, 30 seconds or so off her pace from two weeks earlier at UMass Dartmouth on a much tougher course. Hattan's previous highest career finish was in fifth place at Wellesley earlier this year.

Sophomore Juliette Intrieri (North Salem, N.Y. / North Salem) was placed sixth overall with a time of 19:31.4. It was her second-fastest collegiate 5K, and her best placement at a collegiate race by six places. Rookie Kayla DiBenedetto (Andover, Mass. / Andover) ran 19:41.3 to place seventh, a collegiate high placement, giving Brandeis four of the top seven. Rounding out the team's scorers was junior Bridget Pickard (Westwood, Mass. / Westwood), who was ninth with a time of 19:51.2, her highest finish by two places.

Sophomore Zada Forde (Leverette, Mass./Amherst Regional) and junior Victoria Morrongiello (Staten Island, N.Y. / Susan E. Wagner) rounded out the team's top seven. Forde was 15th overall in 20:14.3, while Morrongiello was 37th with a time of 21:04.8.

As a team, the Judges finished with 27 points, 25 ahead of second-place Wellesley. The Judges return to action on October 16th when they head south to Connecticut College for a big intersectional meet.

On the men's side, the Judges finished with 82 points, 29 behind the winners from Babson. Senior Matthew Driben (Reading, Pa./Wyomissing) continued to lead the squad as he has all season, finishing the eight-kilometer course in third place with a time of 25:39.2. It marked the second-straight time that Driben has finished third at the Keene State meet, shaving 30 seconds off his time from two years ago.

Sophomore Walter Tebbetts (Amherst, Mass. / Amherst-Pelham Regional) was the team's second finisher for the second time this season with a career-best for eight kilometers with a time of 26:26.4. His seventh-place was his highest finish in the team standings by one spot, having taken eighth at Wellesley in his collegiate debut.

Junior Casey Brackett (Wakefield, Mass. / Wakefield Memorial) continued his improvement on the season, from fifth on the team in the opening meet, to fourth two weeks ago, to third this time around. He placed 14th overall, with a time of 26:40.9, a 19-second improvement over his previous career-best for 8K, and his highest placement since finishing second at Wellesley in 2019. Rookie Daniel Frost (Hanover, N.H. / Hanover) was the team's fourth finisher, coming in 17th overall in his home state with a time of 26:51.1 in his first collegiate 8K. Senior Jac Guerra (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) was the team's final scorer in 42nd place with a time of 28:03.9, with sophomore Samuel Kim (La Jolla, Calif. / Phillips Exeter (N.H.)) and rookie Erik Lopez (Stamford, Conn. / Westhill) not far behind in 47th and 48th, with times of 28:13.7 and 28:14.1, respectively.

The Brandeis men will also compete in two weeks at Connecticut College.