BOSTON, Mass. – Brandeis University rookie Emily Bryson (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy) earned the 2015 University Athletic Association (UAA) championship today on her home course at Franklin Park in Boston. She helped the Judges to a fourth-place finish at the race, while the Brandeis men took seventh overall.
Bryson won the 6-kilometer race with a time of 22:03.12, edging Chicago rookie Khia Kurtenbach (22:03.44) down the stretch by 32-hundredths of a second. The race's third finisher was also a freshman, Ellie Degen of Washington University (22:07.76).
"I've raced here before, and I saw [her] in front of me, so I knew I had a shot," Bryson said after the race. "I thought maybe she was out of gas, so I gave it everything I had, and it was enough. I'm really happy, but I'm still processing. I really didn't expect it. I'm just glad the team did well."
Bryson is the Judges' first UAA Women's Cross Country champion since 2002, when Mariko Tansey Holbrook '03 claimed the title. She is the fifth individual to take the title and the seventh crown for the Judges – Jean Olds Cann '92 and Theresa Patten '94 each won back-to-back titles. Bryson also took home UAA Rookie of the Year honors, making her the first person to win that award formally presented since 2000 - and the UAA Championship in the same year.
Brandeis had one other All-UAA performance, as junior Maddie Dolins (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) was 12th overall with a time of 22:28.82. It was Dolins' second All-Association cross country honor.
As a team, the Judges, ranked 21st in Division III, finished in fourth place, up from eighth a year ago. It marked just the second time since 2010 they finished in the top half of the conference, to go with a third-place finish in 2013.
The team champion was Washington University, ranked fifth in Division III. The Bears claimed their second-straight UAA crown with 35 points, placing five runners in the top 14. No. 25 Rochester was a surprise second-place finisher with 83 points. No. 10 Chicago was third with 91, followed by No. 21 Brandeis. No. 14 Emory was the fifth-place finished with 107, followed by Case Western Reserve (136), No. 35 Carnegie Mellon (144) and NYU (229).
2015 UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Franklin Park, Boston
TEAM SCORES
1) Washington U 35
2) Rochester 83
3) Chicago 91
4) BRANDEIS 102
5) Emory 107
6) Case Western Reserve 136
7) Carnegie Mellon 144
8) NYU 229
BRANDEIS INDIVIDUAL FINISHERS (6K)
1) Emily Bryson 22:03.12 (CHAMPION)
2) Maddie Dolins 22:28.82 (12th)
3) Kelsey Whitaker 23:02.69 (28th)
4) Kate Farrell 23:05.43 (29th)
5) Julia Bryson 23:07.09 (32nd)
6) Ashley Piccirillo-Horan 23:07.65 (33rd)
7) Lydia McCaleb 23:18.42 (43rd)
8) Maggie Hensel 23:47.24 (54th)
9) Kyra Shreeve 24:04.91 (63rd)
10) Meaghan Barry 24:35.83 (76th)