CORRECTION APPENDED SEE BOTTOM

If their performance at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth Invitational Saturday is any indication, the men's and women's cross country teams are both forces in the New England region.



The squads each posted top-five finishes at the meet, as the men's team came in third place out of 31 teams with a score of 123 and the women's team ended up fifth out of 29 teams with a score of 206.



"Time-wise, everybody ran out of their minds," men's captain Dan Suher '08 said. "We definitely beat some teams that we wanted to beat, and I think everyone was happy with their performance."



The only two teams that finished ahead of the men's team were Trinity College, the top-ranked team in the New England region, and the University of Southern Maine, which edged out the Judges by a mere two points.



Jon Guilinger '08 led the way for Brandeis, finishing 11th overall with a time of 25 minutes, 35 seconds in the five-mile run.



Three other Judges finished in the top 30 to aid Guilinger. Rookie Paul Norton '11 continued his impressive season, finishing 22nd with a time of 25:53. Matt Jennings '09 and Michael Stone '09 also ran well in their season debuts. Jennings finished 28th with a time of 25:58, while Stone was one spot behind him with a time of 26:00.



"The race definitely sets the bar for the rest of the season," Suher said. "Individually, our times are already a lot faster than some people expected."



The men's team's performance was particularly impressive considering that it raced without Tim Condon '08, who suffered from muscle soreness, and Suher, who was sidelined with strained quadriceps. Condon, an all-University Athletic Association performer last season, led the team to its best conference finish since 1998 last year with a 14th-place finish, while Suher has been an important factor in the team's success in recent seasons. Suher said that the team's performance speaks to the squad's increased talent throughout the lineup.



"In the past we've been unlucky with little things happening to us, [but] this year it looks like we will have enough depth to be able to cover those little things," he said.



On the women's side, captain Katy Agule '09 led the team with a 28th-place finish, recording a time of 19:14, while Marie Lemay '11 followed with a 33rd-place finish in 19:21.



"We all ran pretty well," Agule said. "We all came in under 21 minutes, which was great."



After losing three key seniors last season, the women's team will race a young squad, more than half of which is of underclassmen. Despite the team's youth, Agule sees this factor as a positive contribution to the Judges' progress.



"We're still young, and we're still growing," Agule said. "But our youth helps us. We are looking really good, and we are showing a lot of potential."



Both teams will look to continue improving as they head to the Connecticut College Invitational Saturday at 10 a.m.



Correction: The headline incorrectly stated that the cross country team raced at the Brown Invitational. They raced at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Invitational.