HARRIERS WIN 6TH CONSECUTIVE NEWMAC TITLE
MIT Places Seven Runners Among All Conference Team
November 1, 2003
Apprehensive about competing on a challenging, risky course and perhaps mistakenly looking ahead to the NCAA Regional Qualifying Meet in two weeks, the MIT cross country team nevertheless took care of business by winning its sixth consecutive NEWMAC Championship, continuing as the only team to ever win the men's title.
Led by Ben Schmeckpeper's second place finish in 25:22, MIT finished with 29 points to second place Coast Guard's 51. Following Coast Guard were Wheaton College with 80, Springfield College with 126, WPI with 133, Babson College with 137 and host, Clark University with 185. Schmeckpeper and, winner Stan Pyle of Wheaton College, ran neck and neck for the first two and half miles. Schmeckpeper pulled away, opening up a 20 meter gap by the three mile mark but did not push the fourth mile enough and had his hamstrings cramp up early in mile four. Once Pyle pulled back in front, he never looked back, defeating Schmeckpeper for the second race in a row, although the gap this time was only six seconds.
Following Schmeckpeper on the team was Eric Khatchadourian in 4th place and Chris Fidkowski in 5th place. Both runners ran personal bests even though the course was extremely hilly, had soft ground and was run in 70 degree temperatures. Not running very strong races, probably due to a lack of mental preparation and poor race tactics, were Kevin Brulois in 8th, Brian Anderson in 10th and John Brewer in 12th. Brulois, despite running a less than perfect race, earned Rookie of the Year honors for the NEWMAC Conference. MIT's delta for their top five runners ballooned to 1:50. Nevertheless, MIT escaped unscathed with a convincing victory.
MIT's next race will be their final one for 2003 if they continue to look ahead and not focus on the task at hand. Seeded sixth in the region with only four teams allowed to qualify for the NCAA Championships, MIT must run a perfect race if they are to break into the top four in two weeks at the Twin Brook cross country course in southern Maine.