MIT SWEEPS UP AT ENGINEER'S CUP
September 11, 2004
MIT shuffled their top seven runners on Saturday but the results were the same, an easy victory led by a seven man sweep for a perfect score of 15 to 55 for host RPI and 78 for WPI. MIT swept for the second consecutive year and have not lost since the early 90's.
John Brewer and Eric Khatchadourian took the lead early in the race and never relinquished it. Running together through three and three quarter miles, Brewer pulled away slightly going up the final hill at the end of the fourth mile as he went for his first MIT cross country victory in a time of 26:52, the fastest time ever run there by an MIT runner. Khatchadourian followed closely in 26:56 for second place. A good pack ensued with MIT runners claiming nine of the first ten spots. The pack was led by Carlos Renjifo (27:23) in third, Chris Bruce (27:36) in fourth, Spencer Dudley (27:41) in fifth, Erik Stafl (27:47) in sixth, Chris Wong (27:48) in seventh, Ian Driver (27:54) in ninth and Kevin DiGenova (27:56) in tenth. MIT's Ben Schmeckpeper took the week off from racing for training purposes and Kevin Brulois did not race due to the stomach flu he contracted on Friday.
After the second mile it appeared obvious that MIT would sweep, but a few RPI runners were still ahead of MIT's next pack of four runners. At the end of three miles this pack of four made a strong move, passing all but one WPI runner. In the final mile, when the pack finally spread out a little, Stafl and Wong moved up to complete the seven man sweep.
The warm temperatures, sharp turns and hills all contributed to make this course much slower than the one at Franklin Park. Nevertheless, Stafl, Driver and Steve Nicholson all ran faster than they did the week before on the faster course.
Next week, MIT travels to UMass Dartmouth to race in their invitational. The UMass Dartmouth course, known for being flat and fast, will be approximately 120 meters short due to some construction that will force runners to run on pavement and abandon the use of spikes. This will be Tech's first opportunity to see some of the better teams in the region as well as the first race with a large field.