DARMOUTH, Mass. -- The Brandeis women's cross country team finished in third place today against a field of 40 teams at the UMass Dartmouth Shriners Invitational. The Judges, ranked #34 in Division III, put three runners among the top 15 and four in the top 25.
The team's top performers were sisters Emily and Julia Bryson (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy), who finished in second and eighth places, respectively. Emily has improved by one place in each of her three trips to UMass Dartmouth, coming in fourth as a rookie and third last year. Her time of 18:02.18 was nine seconds off the winning pace. Julia also improved by one place over 2016, when she finished in ninth place. Her time of 18:46.36 was off her pace of last season by about 16 seconds in a much slower race.
Other top finishers were sophomore Danielle Bertaux (Prides Crossing, Mass. / Beverly) who was third for the team and 13th overall after coming 29th a year ago, and junior Meaghan Barry (Marlborough, Mass./Worcester Academy), who improved from 50th in 2016 to 22nd this year. Their times were 18:58.26 and 19:13.85.
Junior 800-meter standout Doyin Ogundiran (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) was the team's fifth scorer in 55th place. This was her first time running in the varsity race at UMD. Her time of 19:45.47 was a 30-second improvement from her best sub-varsity time.
The Judges were running without rookie Niamh Kenney (Hanover, Mass./Hanover), who was a healthy scratch from the roster.
"Overall I am really pleased with the day," said head coach Sinead Delahunty Evans. "These early season races give a good benchmark as to where we are at in our training, so I really pleased with the direction we are going."