This past weekend, the Brandeis men’s and women’s cross country teams travelled to Garrett Mountain in Woodland Park, New Jersey to participate in the 2017 University Athletic Association Championships, hosted by New York University. Both teams ran hard, but the competition was stiff and the teams both placed sixth out of eight teams competing. Defending champions Washington University in St. Louis came out on top for both men’s and women’s, beating their respective runner ups by large margins.

For the men’s team, the Judges kept things impressively competitive,considering their competition. The UAA is considered by many to be the best Division III cross country conference. Five out of the eight teams that competed in this meet were ranked in the top 35 nationally. The winner of the meet, WashU, is ranked No. 9. The runner up, Carnegie Mellon University, is ranked No. 12. Third-place finisher Emory University is No. 35, followed by fourth and fifth place finishers NYU and University of Chicago, which are ranked No. 29 and No. 23, respectively. All of the men’s runners ran in an eight-kilometer race.

Ryan Stender ’18 finished fifth place overall with a time of 26:20.0, earning him a spot on the first team all-UAA for the second year in a row. Stender has long competed admirably at the UAA championships. Flanking Stender was fellow senior Mitchell Hutton ’18, who finished 20th overall with a time of 26:53.4. Luke Ostrander ’21 was Brandeis’ third place finisher, finishing 25th overall with a time of 26:59.2. This impressive finish earned Ostrander a spot on the outstanding rookie team, as he finished fourth among all first-year students. Liam Garvey ’18 was the Judges’ fourth-place finisher with a time of 27:07.7 and placed 29th overall. Mark Murdy ’21 also had an impressive first UAA race, finishing fifth among the Judges with a time of 27:33.4, placing him 44th overall. Veteran Max Whitmore ’18  placed 46th overall with a time of  27:37.8. Dan Curley ’20 finished 55th overall with a time of 28:03.3. Senior Brian Sheppard ’18 came in 65th with a time of 28:28.8. Josh Lombardo ’21 ran a 28:45.2 to finish 69th and Brian Gao ’20 finished with a time of 29:18.5 to come home in 74th.

The women’s team finished sixth out of eight teams, posting a score of 129. This was impressive considering the stiff competition the women had to face from within their conference. No. 7 WashU defended their UAA title with 37 points. Their runner up was No. 15  UChicago who came in second in 74 points. No. 29 Emory was third with 107 points. Carnegie Mellon placed fourth with 116, followed by NYU who bested the Judges by just one point, scoring 128. All of the women’s runners ran in a six-kilometer race. 

Emily Bryson ’19 finished fourth overall with a time of 23:41.1, which earned her a spot on the first team all-UAA. Her twin sister Julia Bryson ’19 finished 12th overall with a time of 24:18.6. She earned second team all-UAA honors. The Judges’ third and fourth place finishers were Niamh Kenny ’21 and Danielle Berteaux ’20 finishing 37th and 38th respectively. Fifth across the line for the Judges was Meaghan Berry ’19 finishing with a time of 25:45.1, placing her 46th overall. Runners Doyin Ogundiran ’19 and Christine Minor ’19 placed 56th and 69th overall with times of 26:19.3 and 26:29.0, respectively. Senior Kyra Shreeve ’18 was 69th with a time of 27:12.2 and Andrea Buldoc ’21 was 71st with a respectable time of 27:23.0.

After a two-week break, both teams will return at the National Collegiate Athletic Association New England Regional Championships hosted by the University of Southern Maine on Nov. 11.

After dominant starts to the season, the Judges will strive to come back strong from their tough meet in New Jersey. Both the talent and the depth are there for these squads, and it remains to be seen if they will live up to their immense potential at regionals in a couple weeks.