As the men's and women's cross country teams' runners crossed the finish line at the Open New England Championships Saturday, many of their faces were covered in black soot thanks to swirling dirt clouds and abnormally hot temperatures.Both teams struggled with the adverse conditions, as the men's team finished in 31st place out of 43 teams, 12th among Division III schools, while the women's team placed 17th among Division III teams and 36th overall out of 44 squads.

"It wasn't our best meet, but we kind of knew that [would happen] going into [the meet]," coach John Evans said.

The Judges had difficulty adapting to the unusually hot weather, which consistently floated above 80 degrees throughout the race. The dry conditions caused dirt clouds to blow in the faces of the runners. Still, players tried their best to avoid using the weather as an excuse for their performances.

"Obviously, the heat was a factor, and nobody's going to run the best times, but everyone deals with the same heat," Marie Lemay '11 said. "You have to deal with it and try to run the best you can under the circumstances."

Rookies Mekonen Gendebo '11 and Paul Norton '11 posted the best two times for the men's team, which is still missing top runners Tim Condon '08 and John Guilinger '08 to injury. Condon remains sidelined with a knee injury, while Guilinger is out with a severe foot blister he suffered at the Connecticut College Invitational Sept. 22. Coach John Evans said he hopes both runners will be able to return for the University Athletic Association championships Oct. 27.

"When you're going into a meet without your best guys and you're going up against the best New England has to offer, the team morale just wasn't that high," Norton said. "When you add the weather on top of that, things just snowballed."

Gendebo finishing with a team-best time of 26 minutes, 46 seconds Sunday, good for 97th place overall. Norton was close behind, finishing in 115th place with a time of 27:05.

Norton said he struggled to pace himself during the race because of the presence of several Division I runners.

"If we were running in hot weather with a field of [just] other Division III teams, I think it would not have affected us as much," Norton said. "It was a combination of the caliber of the field and the heat that made us feel very overwhelmed."

Dan Anastos '11, Will Collins '10 and Ben Bray '11 rounded out the scoring for the Judges, finishing in 171st, 182nd, 209th, respectively. Mike Stone '09, usually one of the team's top finishers, struggled mightily to a 213th place finish with a time of 28:45.

On the women's side, the conditions particularly bothered Katy Agule '09, the team's top runner. Agule, who suffers from with asthma, finished with a time of 21:12, good for just 210th place overall and fourth on the team.

"It was a lot harder for me to run faster at a long distance," Agule said. "With the heat beating down on you, the air is a lot more thick, and especially, with my asthma, it took a toll on me."

Lemay led the way for the Judges, finishing in 112th place overall with a time of 20:11. Though this was the first time Lemay finished as the top Brandeis runner this season, she is having a breakout campaign, finishing each of her first four meets among the Judges' top three runners.

Evans said he isn't too concerned that both teams struggled Saturday, pointing to the men's team's struggles at this meet last season before finishing in a tie for second at the UAA tournament as evidence.

"I think we're fine," he said. "This is not the be all and end all; it's very much a stepping stone."

The Judges next run at the University of Albany Invitational Saturday at 10 a.m.