Racing Saturday at the University Athletic Association championships in Rochester, N.Y., the men's and women's cross-country squads were able to get a good indicator of where they are two weeks before the NCAA Division III Regional Championship.

While both squads didn't have the days that they would have wanted as they both finished eighth out of their respective eight team fields it is important to remember that the UAA is arguably the toughest Division III conference in the country. The men's side features No.10 Washington University in St. Louis, No.12 New York University, No.19 Carnegie Mellon University, No.22 University of Rochester, No.23 The University of Chicago and No.32 Case Western Reserve University. The women's competition featured No.8 UChicago, No.16 NYU, No.18 Case, No.27 WashU and No.31 Rochester.

"We didn't race as well as we would have wanted to," said Victoria Sanford '14, who led the women with a time of 23 minutes, 1.2 seconds. "But, there's nothing we can do about it now except for look towards [NCAA Division III] Regionals."

The men's team, which scored 186 points, was led by Ed Colvin '14, who finished the eight kilometer course in 25 minutes, 30 seconds, good for 9th place and all-UAA honors. Behind Colvin were Alex Kramer '13, who finished 33rd in 26:10, Michael Rosenbach '15, who took 46th in 26:30, and Jarret Harrigan '15, who placed 51st in 26:36. Rounding out the scoring for the men's squad was Mik Kern '13, whose 27:24 effort placed him 69th out of the competitive 78 runner field.

For the women, who earned 183 points, frontrunner Sanford finished in 21st place. Fellow classmates Amelia Lundkvist '14 and Ali Kirsch '14 finished 29th and 43rd in 23:14 and 23:36, respectively. It was Lundkvist's first race of the season, as she has been battling injury.

Maggie Hensel '16 led the younger Brandeis runners, taking 58th place with a time of 24:22. Finishing off the scoring squad was Erin Bisceglia '12 MA '13, who took 56th in 24:55. First years Kelsey Whitaker '16 and Rachel Keller '16 took 76th and 77th, timing in at 25:37, and 26:37 respectively.

And while they weren't happy with the way that the meet went overall, they know that the real test of their mettle will come in two weeks' time on Saturday, Nov. 10, at the NCAA Division III Regional Championships at Westfield State University.

Sanford, in particular, said that sticking to a similar plan to the one the team did in training last year could help the team rebound.

"Last year, we [the women's team] placed 10th at Regionals after having an off race at UAA's," she said.

"We're sticking to the same plan as last year, having a hard week this week and an easy week before Regionals. Hopefully we can do well again this year."