A Brandeis women's cross country runner had not earned all-conference honors at the University Athletic Association Championships since Camille Stevens-Rumann '07 did in 2006. Ally Connelly '10 ended that Brandeis drought last Saturday at the UAA Championships in Cleveland, when she earned all-UAA second team honors and was the team's top finisher with a 14th-place finish out of 81 runners, the best of her career. Connolly concluded the 6-kilometer course with a time of 24 minutes, 17.24 seconds in what she described as the "toughest course" the team had faced this season.

In her final season, Connolly has posted some of the best times in her career. Along with her performance at the UAA Championships, Connolly also posted a personal best at the University at Albany Invitational Oct. 17 with 18:43.

Connolly was most pleased with her placement last Saturday.

"I'm more proud of my finish [last] weekend because we had to face some tough conditions," she said. "The weather was bad, and the course was tougher than what we're used to."

Although her times of late have been very strong, it is her leadership qualities that make Connolly stand out, as she has served as the team's co-captain the last two seasons.

"I just have to make sure that as a team member, I lead by example," she said. "Even when I'm far back and don't have a great finish, I hope and think that my effort and hard work affects the team."

Connelly is confident that her team has prepared well enough to succeed in the upcoming Regional and National Championships and will continue to succeed after she graduates.

"We've been running like crazy, eating right [and] sleeping right. We've put in all the work, and we really want to make it to Nationals," she said.

"In my four years, we've only gotten better, and we keep getting better and better," she added. "It's been great to see the growth of the team and how far we've come. I'm really excited for the future because we have a really young and talented team.