Unlike indoor and outdoor track, cross-country is a sport that features different courses for runners every week.

The women's cross-country team is showing, this season, that it doesn't matter where the course is-they still have the ability to emerge victorious.

Led by Amelia Lundkvist '14, who finished second overall and first among Division III competitors, the women took the Keene State Invitational by seven points. Host Keene State University was second with 59 points.

"The race went very well I think," said Lundkvist. "We got out a lot better and faster than [our meet at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth] and moved up [past our competitors] quickly and fairly easily. As we moved up, we had people to [chase] so that made it go by fast. The finish was tough, but other than that it was a very solid race for us as a team."

Additionally, the men took second to Keene State, racking up 58 points to the Owls' 24. The University of Southern Maine was third, finishing 10 points behind the Judges with 68.
Lundkvist toured the five-kilometer course in 18 minutes, 46 seconds. Yet, while Lundkvist has been leading the pack for her team this year, she wasn't the only Judge to have a good day. Rookie Maddie Dolins '17 was third, just eight seconds behind Lundkvist. Kelsey Whitaker '16 completed Brandeis' sweep of places two, three and four, coming in at 19:04.

On a day where Victoria Sanford '14, who is usually one of the Judges' top-three finishers, was absent, the Judges were able to get some scoring help from the team's younger runners.

Ashley Piccirillo-Horan '17 successfully broke the 20-minute barrier as Brandeis' fourth runner, taking 15th overall with a time of 19:46.

Kate Farrell '17 rounded out the scoring for the Judges. She completed the course in 20:28, good for 34th place.

Though the men didn't take the team victory, they managed to upt forth a promising performance despite challenging circumstances.

With Ed Colvin '14-who is usually the Judges' top runner-injured, Jarret Harrigan '15 was the first finisher for the men, taking sixth place overall. Harrigan covered the tough, eight-kilometer course in 27:04.

Even with Colvin absent, the men showed their strength. Quinton Hoey '17, who was second on the team to Harrigan at a Sept. 21 meet at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, was also the second Brandeis runner across the line, taking 11th place in 27:27. Michael Rosenbach '15 took 14th overall, timing in at 27:42. Rookie Matt Doran '17 was close behind Rosenbach, placing 17th in 27:56.

Grady Ward '16 rounded out the scoring for the men, putting all five competitors in the top 20 and taking 19th overall in 28:01. Though the Judges' team performance indicated obvious strengths, they still have the potential to improve.

"Last week was an easier week," said Lundkvist. "Most of the girls only did five miles per day, which is less than what we normally do for a normal week of training. Now we're beginning to pick it up again. We should be back to 55-60 [miles] this week and getting back to regular mileage."

In addition to upping their training, the Judges are getting excited for competitive meets ahead in their schedule.

"A lot of the good New England schools will be at [our next meet at Connecticut College.] We're really excited to race there and see what we can do against some of the best teams in our region. Looking forward to [Division III New England] Regionals, we're obviously hoping to be one of the top seven teams [which advance to the NCAA Division III Championship], but we're just going to do our best and see what happens."

Though ultimately the team's training will be the decisive factor on their fitness heading into the larger meets, Lundvist believes that the Judges' attitude is in the right place as well.

"We are feeling good," she said. "We are definitely excited to
show what we can do. I think we're going to surprise a lot of people."

The Judges will race on Saturday, Oct. 19 at the Connecticut College Invitational.
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