BOSTON, Mass. – The Brandeis University women's cross country team had one of its best performances in school history at their regional qualifying meet, as the 26^th-ranked Judges placed fourth overall out of 29 teams at the East regional championships. Brandeis had four runners earn All-Region accolades, just missing a fifth, as they scored 89 points, their lowest total since at least 1990. Brandeis will learn if the finish was good enough to earn one of 22 at-large berths to the NCAA Division III Championships next weekend in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Judges had one of their best spreads of the season, with their top five runners separated by just 1:29. Leading the way for the second week in a row were seniors Niamh Kenney (Hanover, Mass./Hanover) and Erin Magill (South Duxbury, Vt./Harwood Union). For the second race in a row, Kenney and Magill finished in eighth and ninth place, as they had done previously two weeks earlier at the UAA Championships. Kenney ran 23:03, while Magill had a time of 23:09. This is Kenney's second All-Region accolade for cross country, having finished in 31^st place at the New England regional in 2019. Magill, running at regionals for just the second time, had placed 81^st in 2019.

Running in third place for the Judges was senior Natalie Hattan (Sugar Land, Texas/Clements), who was 13^th overall, posting a time of 23:30 in her first regional championship race. It was just a second off her 6K time run at UAAs, and was the third-best of her career. Sophomore runner Juliette Intrieri (North Salem, N.Y. / North Salem) ran the second-fastest 6K of her career as well, placing 23^rd overall, good for fourth on the team, and the squad's final All-Region performance. Intrieri just missed a p.r. by three seconds with a mark of 23:57.  Junior Bridget Pickard (Westwood, Mass. / Westwood) just missed a fifth All-Region performance with a time of 24:32, good for 37^th place. She was 11 seconds out of the top 35.

First-year Zada Forde (Leverett, Mass. / Amherst Regional) and sophomore Lizzy Reynolds (Winchester, Mass. / Winchester) were the team's sixth and seventh runners, taking 45^th and 68^th places, respectively with times of 24:47 and 25:27.

On the men's side, the Judges finished in 10^th place out of 33 squads with 331 points. Senior Matthew Driben (Reading, Pa./Wyomissing) was the squad's top finisher, coming in 44^th overall with a time of 27:27. It was a 25-place improvement from his 2019 showing at Regionals, despite missing All-East honors by about 20 seconds. Rookie Daniel Frost (Hanover, N.H. / Hanover) was nine seconds behind Driben in 49^th place with a time of 27:36. Sophomore Willem Goff (Pelham, Mass. / Amherst Regional) came in third for the Judges with a time of 28:11, good for 66^th place. Goff was less than a second off his personal best for an 8K race.

Junior Casey Brackett (Wakefield, Mass. / Wakefield Memorial) improved by 30 places from his previous Regional finish, coming in 87^th with a time of 28:43. Rookie Lucas Dia (Montclair, N.J. / Montclair) closed out the scoring for the Judges five seconds behind in 28:48 in 90^th place.

Senior Jac Guerra (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) and first-year Samuel Kim (La Jolla, Calif. / Phillips Exeter (N.H.)) rounded out the team's competitors in 96^th and 104^th places, respectively.

The Judges hope to send as many as four individuals to the women's NCAA Division III Championships if they are not selected as a team. Selections are announced tomorrow by the NCAA. The men's season is complete.