NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Running as a nationally-ranked squad for the first time this season, the #29 Brandeis University women's cross country team placed second at the 2021 UMass Dartmouth Invitational. The unranked Brandeis men placed 10th overall.
The women finished 15 points behind winners WPI despite running without senior All-American Niamh Kenney (Hanover, Mass./Hanover), 68-83. In her stead, senior Erin Magill (South Duxbury, Vt. / Harwood Union) was the Judges' top performer, coming in fourth overall with a time 17:52.0. Magill took nearly a full minute off her career-best time for a five-kilometer course, finishing 13 seconds behind the winner from Wellesley. Senior Natalie Hattan (Sugar Land, Texas/Fort Bend Clemente) was the team's second finisher with a ninth-place finish, seventh among Division III runners with a time of 18:30.40. Hattan took close to 45 seconds off her previous career-best 5K time, breaking 19 minutes for the first time.
Sophomore Juliette Intrieri (North Salem, N.Y. / North Salem) was the Judges' third runner, placing 22nd overall with a time of 19:07.90 in her second collegiate race. Junior Bridget Pickard (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) lowered her career-best time by 12 seconds to 19:20.80 as she was the team's fourth finisher in 32nd place overall. Just behind her was first-year Kayla DiBenedetto (Andover, Mass. / Andover), who rounded out the Brandeis scorers in 33rd place with a time of 19:21.30.
First-year Zada Forde (Leverett, Mass. / Amherst Regional), who finished 45th in 19:35.60, and classmate Kyra Au (Great Neck, N.Y. / Great Neck South), who was 82nd with a time of 20:15.90, rounded out the Judges' competitors for the day.
On the men's side, Brandeis finished with 344 points to finish in 10th overall, trailing Roger Williams by 44. Leading the way for the second week in a row was senior Matthew Driben (Reading, Pa./Wyomissing), who covered the five-mile course in 25:04.20 to finish in 16th place. It was one position better than his previous showing at UMass Dartmouth and 49 seconds faster than his previous time on this course.
First-year runner Daniel Frost (Hanover, N.H. / Hanover) was the team's second finisher, coming in 60th overall with a time of 26:14.80. Sophomore Walter Tebbetts (Amherst, Mass. / Amherst-Pelham Regional) was 10 spots behind in 70th place with a mark of 26:23.80. It was the first collegiate race for both runners at five miles.
Junior Casey Brackett (Wakefield, Mass. / Wakefield Memorial) was the team's fourth runner with a time of 26:39.0, one minute and one second faster than his previous time at the UMass Dartmouth course in 2019. It was good for 88th place. Senior Jac Guerra (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) rounded out the Judges' top five with a time of 27:31.20, placing 126th.
Rookie Lucas Dia (Montclair, N.J. / Montclair) was behind Guerra in 136th with a time of 27:44.90, while classmate Erik Lopez (Stamford, Conn. / Westhill) was 149th in 27:54.90. Senior Jacob Grant (Rockville Centre, N.Y. / South Side) closed out the Brandeis runners in 28:34.0, good for 173th place.
Brandeis returns to action on October 2nd when they will run in the Keene State Invitational.