RUZEVICK AND MONKS QUALIFY FOR NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIP
November 11, 2006
Near perfect conditions welcomed the men's and women's teams to the New England Division III Championship / NCAA Division III Regional Qualifier. MIT's men's team, seeded seventh going into the race was hoping for better results but were not able to out perform their seed. Jake Ruzevick, the number one runner on the team all season, was determined to qualify for nationals individually and despite not feeling his best after two miles he hung on for 11th place overall, good enough to extend his season another week and earn him a trip to Wilmington, Ohio.
The team, led by Ruzevick set itself up in good position and moved to a point where they were competing for one of the top four spots, which would have earned them a trip to nationals as a team had they held on. However, from that point the rolling hills seemed to take their toll on the Engineer's legs. Joe Roy-Mayhew was the next highest finisher for MIT in 39th place after being as high as the mid 20s around two miles into the race. Johannes Schneider finished very well for a freshmen, ending up in 46th position, approximately his highest position at any point in the race. Kevin Brulois, the Engineers highest finisher last year, was up to 40th place at one point but faded slightly to finish in 53rd place. Trevor Rundell, running from the back as he did last year when he finished 40th, made it up to as high as 47th place but also faded falling back to 57th place to round out the scoring for MIT at 206 points for seventh place.
The women, ranked as high as 19th in the country for Division III this season, entered the race decimated by injuries. Missing their number two, four, five and six runners and with number one, Maria Monks nursing an injured back, the Engineers took to the starting line with the hope of running a solid race and beating as many teams as possible.
Monks shook off the pain and put herself in position to contend for an individual spot to nationals. Having misplaced her spikes and having to run in cross country nubs, she lost ground on the hills, eventually ending up in 23rd place. When the five qualifying teams were taken out of the mix Monks was the sixth of seven individuals making the trip to Ohio next week.
Hana Adaniya, running her final cross country race, made it up to as high as 23rd place but was unable to hold onto her position on this day, falling back to 58th place. Adrienne Bolger made her way up into the mid 70s and stayed there throughout the remainder of the race, finishing in 76th place. Jessie Thompson and Alisha Schor got to Bolger early on in the race but faded a bit back 101st and 102nd places respectively. The women finished with 360 points to finish 14th out of 48 schools. This was certainly a disappointing end to a season marked by amazing performances but with the top four returning runners being either freshmen or sophomores good things are on the horizon.
Ruzevick and Monks will represent MIT at the NCAA Division III Championship at Voice of America Park in West Chester, Ohio, hosted by Wilmington College on Saturday, November 18 at 11:00 and 12:00 respectively.