ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Brandeis University women's cross country team, ranked 24^th in Division III, placed sixth today at the extremely competitive University Athletic Association championships. The Judges finished just three points shy of fourth place behind two other Top-35 squads. Conditions were very muddy, leading to slow times across the board.

On the men's side, the Judges finished in eighth place with 252 points, 48 behind seventh-place NYU. First-year runner Daniel Frost (Hanover, N.H. / Hanover) led the way for the Judges, placing 52^nd overall with a time of 27:35.0. Sophomore Willem Goff (Pelham, Mass. / Amherst Regional) was the team's second runner in 64^th place with a time of 28:16.5, just seven seconds of his career best set during his previous race at Conn. College.

Junior Casey Brackett (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield Memorial) was Brandeis's top finisher with previous UAA experience. He finished in 67^th place with a time of 28:21.4, a two-spot improvement from his 2019 performance. Senior Matthew Driben (Reading, Pa./Wyomissing) was the squad's fourth runner, coming in 70^th with a time of 28:25.5. First-year Lucas Dia (Montclair, N.J. / Montclair) rounded out the scorers in 72^nd place with a time of 29:00.8, while Samuel Kim (La Jolla, Calif. / Phillips Exeter (N.H.)), Jac Guerra (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) and Erik Lopez (Stamford, Conn. / Westhill) were the team's final competitors, placing 75^th, 77^th and 78^th, respectively.

17^th-ranked Carnegie Mellon won the men's race with a score of 47 points. The Tartans edged #13 WashU, who had 59 points, and #20 Chicago, with 63. Ninth-ranked Emory came in in fourth place with 94 points.

For the women, Brandeis finished with 122 points, while 29^th-ranked Case Western Reserve had 121 and 18^th-ranked Emory had 119. Fifth-ranked Washington University won the meet with 32 points, doubling up No. 7 Chicago with 64 points. #17 Carnegie Mellon was third with 79 points.

Individually, the Judges had two All-UAA performances on the women's side, both second-teamers. Senior Niamh Kenney (Hanover, Mass./Hanover) finished in eighth place with a time of 23:11.1, while senior Erin Magill (South Duxbury, Vt./Harwood Union) was ninth, five seconds behind in 23:16.6. Kenney's previous career-best at UAAs came in 2019, when she was 17^th, while Magill improved 24 places from 33^rd in the last UAAs. Kenney had a terrific final kick to reach the top 10, running her final two-kilometer loop of the race in 7:35.5, her fastest 2K stretch by eight seconds. Magill sat in eighth after the first lap and fell back to 10^th before finishing ninth.

A third senior, Natalie Hattan (Sugar Land, Texas/Fort Bend Clemente), was the team's third finisher, placing 21^st overall with a time of 23:58.1.  In her first UAA Championship race, Hattan had a terrific finish, improving by a team-best nine places over the final two kilometers of the race. In all, each of the Judges' five scorers improved their standings over the final loop of the 6K race.

The final two finishers for the Judges were both in their first seasons of competing. Sophomore Juliette Intrieri (North Salem, N.Y. / North Salem) was 44^th overall with a time of 24:46.7, while first-year Zada Forde (Leverett, Mass. / Amherst Regional) was 49^th overall with a time of 25:01.6. Forde had the team's second-best improvement over the final two-kilometer loop of the race, moving up eight spots.

Sophomore Lizzy Reynolds (Winchester, Mass. / Winchester) and junior Bridget Pickard (Westwood, Mass. / Westwood) were the Judges' displacement runners in 58^th and 67^th places, respectively, with times of 25:27.2 and 26:09.4. Rookie Kyra Au (Great Neck, N.Y. / Great Neck South) and senior Erika Karlin (Hagerstown, Md. / North Hagerstown) also ran for the Judges, coming 69^th and 71^st  

The Judges will next compete at the East Regional Championships on Nov. 13^th at Franklin Park in Boston.