Just four months ago, Paul Norton '11 was running in his high school uniform. But in his first collegiate meet for Brandeis, the rookie ran like a seasoned pro. Norton finished second out of 26 runners with a time of 20 minutes, 15 seconds in the six-kilometer run as the men's cross country team defeated Division II Bentley College 28-31 Thursday in the inaugural race of the Judges' season. The women's squad lost 27-28.

"I thought of the meet as a chance to establish myself at the collegiate level," Norton said. "But I definitely was not expecting to find myself in second place in my first race."

Though the Judges opted to rest their juniors and seniors, their top five finishers combined for a lower score than Bentley's top five finishers.

Bentley took three of the top five spots, but the Judges took places five through seven to get the victory. Rookie Zach Schwartz '11 finished fifth place in 20:31, and Keith Thibault '10 was sixth in 20:52.

Captain Dan Suher '08 described the competition as a "rust-buster meet," but was still happy with the team's performance.

"I'm satisfied with the results," Suher said. "Given the squad Bentley put up-they had a much stronger squad than last year-to be able to beat them with a freshmen and sophomore team is good regardless of how close the score was."

With the full team expected to race for the rest of the season, Norton doesn't expect to lead the Judges every week. But if his inaugural race is any indication, he could be a key asset for coach John Evans.

"Obviously I'm not expecting to be the top guy for Brandeis, but I think I can run well when it counts," Norton said.

The race was six kilometers rather than the usual collegiate distance of eight, which helped the younger runners transition from the shorter high school distances, Suher said.

The women's team also showed promise despite its loss, taking places three through six among 19 runners. Ally Connolly '10 led the way at 16:17, and Hannah Lindholm '11, Emily Terrin '08 and Maria Lemay '11 tied for fourth place with a time of 16:25.

Captain Katy Agule '09 described the meet as a scrimmage, and while she was disappointed about losing, she was encouraged by the performance.

"I like to win every meet, so the fact that we lost by one point was really unfortunate," she said. "But our girls looked really strong, and I was really impressed with how they ran."

The two teams next compete Sept. 15 at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth Invitational.