The men's and women's cross country teams traveled to Franklin Park in Boston last weekend to compete in the NCAA Northeast Regional meet, with the men finishing sixth overall and the women taking ninth. The meet wrapped up the fall season, highlighted by another strong performance from Christian Escareno '10.
Escareno took 10th place, running the 10-kilometer course in 31:19. Along with the top-10 finish, Escareno earned himself Brown's first spot in the men's Nationals race since 2004. If he places in the top 40 in the Terre Haute, Ind., Nationals race on Nov. 23, Escareno will add All-American to his resume as well.
Since the start of the season, his goal was to reach Nationals and place in the top 40, he said. Escareno, who is from Illinois, used to attend the NCAA meet with his high school coach.
"I remember always being in complete awe of how fast collegiate runners were," he said. "Now I get to run there myself and couldn't be any more grateful and proud for the chance to compete against the top runners in the nation."
Leading the women's team once again was Ariel Wright '10, who narrowly missed a bid to Nationals. She took 17th place with a time of 22:46 on the six-kilometer course.
The conditions on Saturday were poor, and both squads were affected. It had been raining the day before, and the squads raced after a number of high school meets.
"It was a tough end to the season. We had goals to finish higher as a team," Wright said. "But there were a lot of positives this season, and I think we're all looking forward to fulfilling our potential come track (season)."
Running well, as he has all season long, captain Duriel Hardy '10 finished in 27th for the men with a time of 32:06. Matt Duffy '12 also turned in a solid 32:39, good for 40th place. John Haenle '11 finished the course in 32:51, John Loeser '10 finished in 32:53, Austin Snyder '13 ran a 33:06 and Colin Brett '10 turned in a 35:33.
Following Wright on the women's side, Kelsey Ramsey '11 ran well for the Bears, taking 40th place in 23:25. Next were Ari Garber '12 in 23:29 and Elaine Kuckertz '13 in 23:40. Herald Staff Writer Lauren Pischel '11 finished in 23:45. Also strong this year for the Bears, Megan Fitzpatrick '11 finished in 23:53 and Erica Hines '13 in 24:14.
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