Emily Bryson ’19 became the first member of the men and women’s cross country team to take the University Athletic Association Championship since the 2002 to 2003 season as the Judges hosted the UAA Championships over the weekend. Brandeis finished in fourth place on the women’s side and seventh on the men’s side. 

Women’s squad (4th place- 102 points)

Bryson took the title by completing the six-kilometer course in Franklin Park, Boston in 22 minutes, 3.12 seconds. Her time was just a step faster than University of Chicago freshman Khia Kurtenbach, who stopped the timer at 22:03.44. 

Maddie Dolins ’17 grabbed a top-15 finish for the Judges, earning 12th place in the race with a finish of 22:29. Her 12th place finish earned Dolins the second All-UAA honor of her career.

Kelsey Whitaker ’16 and Kate Farrell ’18 both ended the race in the top 30 of the 80 competitors in the race, clocking in at 23:03 and 23:06, respectively. Whitaker and Farrell finished consecutively in 28th and 29th places, respectively. 

Julia Bryson ’19 and Ashley Piccirillo-Horan ’17 turned in strong races for the Judges, crossing the finish line in 32nd and 33rd places, respectively. Both stopped the timer milliseconds apart at the 23:08 mark of the race. 

Lydia McCaleb ’18 ended the race at the 23:19 mark, while Maggie Hensel ’16 covered the course in 23:48. Kyra Shreeve ’18 and Meghan Barry ’19 rounded out the competitors for the Judges, turning in times of 24:05 and 24:36, respectively. 

Bryson became the fifth different individual to claim the individual UAA crown for the Judges and the first taken home by a Brandeis runner since Mariko Tansey Holbrook ’03 claimed the 2002 title. 

The Judges took fourth place overall, up four places from the 2014 to 2015 season.

Washington University in St. Louis was the top team on the women's side, finishing with an overall score of 35.

In second place was the University of Rochester with a score of 83, while the University of Chicago claimed third place on the backs of 91 points.

Following the Judges who finished in fourth were Emory University, Case Western Reserve University, Carnegie Mellon University and New York University.

The result was a vast improvement for the Judges as they finished in last place at the conference meet last season.

Men’s squad (7th place- 173 points)

Mitchell Hutton ’18 led the way to a seventh-place finish for the men, traversing the eight-kilometer course in 24:40.44. Hutton missed out on All-UAA honors by less than two seconds, ending the race in 16th place. Liam Garvey ’18 took 31st of the 76 competitors, stopping the clock at the 25:57.57 mark, a 1.5-minute improvement on last year’s race. 

Quinton Hoey ’17 grabbed 36th in 26:06.34, while Matt Doran ’17 stopped the timer at the 26:23.37 mark. Roger Lacroix ’18 rounded out the competition for the hosts, ending the race at the 26.23.90 mark. The Judges took seventh place over the University of Rochester on the strength of Lacroix’s placement, handing the squad a tiebreaker over the Yellowjackets.

Carnegie Mellon was the winner on the men's side as they finished with 53 points, 15 ahead of the second place team in WashU.

Chicago finished in third place followed by NYU in fourth.

Emory earned a fifth place finish with a score of 122 while Case scored 151 to finish in sixth.

The only competitor that did not best the Judges was Rochester who tied them in seventh with a total score of 173.

Similarly to the women, the squad finished in last place at last year's meet, making the seventh place finish an improvement.

The Judges will next run at the National Collegiate Athletic Association New England Regional Championships in Waterford, Conn. on Nov. 14 in one last race to earn bids for the NCAA Division III Championships, scheduled to take place on Nov. 21st.