Grayce Selig '11 has emerged this year as one of the women's top cross country runners. Last Saturday, Selig led the team to a sixth-place finish in the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championships. Her time of 22 minutes, 33.8 seconds was the best among Brandeis women's runners since 2003 and was 26th overall, good enough to earn her an individual bid to the NCAA Championships next weekend."I had good summer training, and it paid off this week," Selig said. "Hopefully I can continue it into next week."

Selig is the only women's runner on the team who will compete at the National Championships, as the squad did not receive a bid to go as a team. Selig will join Paul Norton '11 and the men's team at Nationals, which did qualify as a team. Still, Selig said the team was disappointed that it will not get to compete at Nationals as a group.

"The team raced really well; we did the best we can, we are a really strong team, and we're disappointed we're not going as a team," she said.

Selig's time at the regional championships was also her best-ever finish in the 6-kilometer race. However, Selig largely attributes her success to the team.

"The team is really close; everyone supports each other," Selig said. "I get pretty nervous before games, so they help calm me down [and help me] stay focused. That's what really helps."

Despite falling short of reaching nationals, Selig is confident in the team's chances for next season.

"We're coming out in the best shape, and I have two more seasons to go, so I think everyone's ready to run really well, and everyone is [going to] run really fast, and it's going to be a great season," she said.

Selig also noted how the squad has improved since she joined the team.

"The girls program has really stepped up a lot, and we're going to do really well in the future," Selig said.