Men and Women Race to High Finishes at All New England Championship
October 7, 2006
With 65 degree temperatures and a dry course the conditions were the best of the season so far for running fast times and both men's and women's teams from MIT took advantage at the NEICAAA Cross Country Championship. The men placed 16th of 45 teams with 424 points in this championship comprising all schools from Divisions I, II and III in the New England region and fourth among Division III colleges. The women, with their best race in the history of this event and arguably best ever in any race, tied for 14th out of 46 teams with 471 points. The lady harriers finished seventh among the Division III teams but the New England region is undoubtedly the strongest in the nation in Division III.
The men got out well on the dusty course, settling in the middle of the pack as they worked their way into the first turn. Jake Ruzevick established his position among the leaders as he came through the first mile within the top 40 runners. Kevin Brulois went out close behind Ruzevick and the pack of Joe Roy-Mayhew, Johannes Schneider, Brandon Pung, Trevor Rundell and Chris Bruce were running together and moving up in the field.
By mile two Ruzevick was in good posistion in 35th position and looking strong. Brulois, Roy-Mayhew, Schneider and Pung were looking good and moving up well. Miles three and four were more of the same as Ruzevick moved into the top 25, Brulois looked as though he were holding on but doing a good job of it and Roy-Mayhew continuing to move up well. Freshmen Schneider and Pung worked well together, coming through four miles in 21:12.
In the final mile Ruzevick was not able to go with those who had started less aggressively but was able to hold onto 23rd place in a huge personal best of 25:19. Ruzevick finished as the fifth overall Division III runner, a position that bodes well for the national championships in six weeks. Brulois held on, finishing in 64th for a PR of 25:45 and Roy-Mayhew completed the course in 87th place running under 26:00 for the first time, finishing in 25:56. Schneider closed to 128th place in 26:14 and Pung ran 26:18 to finish in 133rd position. Both ran personal bests.
In the sub-varsity race, freshman Jack Bourbonnais ran 26:17, finishing 13th and Yermie Cohen ran 26:37 showing the depth of the Engineers.
The women took to the course before the men and appeared ready to show the region they deserved a little respect. Running without number two runner, Jacqui Wentz and with number three runner, Elizabeth Finn, having a bout with a stomach flu, the remaining runners showed little doubt that they could accomplish the task.
Unfortunately for the varsity team, their starting box was on the far left of an unsurveyed line, putting them at a severe disadvantage to hit the first turn in the desired position. Coach Halston Taylor neglected to inform them of this problem, trusting they would know to get out and not wanting to cause them to get out too fast, an ill advised decision that may have hurt the team's outcome.
At the start, the women got out too slowly, not being able to see the teams on the other side of the wedge. Going into the first turn MIT was very near the back of the pack, realizing too late they needed to move. Maria Monks came to the realization a little sooner and made a big move going across the field and all through the first mile. The rest of the MIT runners expended a lot of energy moving up to the desired position by mile one but their aggressiveness served them well.
Monks was in 14th place at the mile mark, a little ahead of plan. Hana Adaniya and Jennifer Doyle worked together well and moved up to the back of the top third of the 300+ field by the end of the first mile. Following close behind were Rachel Niehuus, Adrienne Bolger and Alisha Schor. By mile two Monks was feeling the first mile, falling back to 24th place. The others each passed about 20 runners in that mile and were continuing to move up. The final mile saw Monks, still running a great race, continue to fall back and the rest of the varsity move up a few more places. Adaniya ran an exceptional race, running under 19:00 for the first time, clocking 18:58 in 69th place. Monks placed 45th in what had to be a painful finish but a fast one in 18:35. Doyle, with Adaniya shortly after the two mile mark, hit the wall, losing 39 places in the final mile but still running a personal best of 19:19. Niehuus and Bolger also ran personal bests of 19:24 and 19:33, finishing in 115th and 137th respectively. Schor rounded out the varsity with an excellent time of 19:39.
Making a comeback from early season injury, Erika Erickson placed 27th in the sub-varsity race in a time of 19:37, making her a candidate for a future varsity position.
Next Saturday, both teams travel to Williamstown to compete in the Plansky Invitational. Both teams will race at shorter distances to work on speed a little bit and take a break from the monotony of the 8K and 5K distances. The men will race at 5K and the women at 4K.