MIT FAILS TO ADVANCE AT NCAA REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Elizabeth Finn Qualifies Individually
November 11, 2007
MIT Men's and Women's Cross Country teams allowed a great opportunity to slip through their hands today at the NCAA Division III New England Regional Cross Country Championship hosted by Connecticut College at Harkness Memorial State Park. The men, seeded fourth going into the meet believed they had a chance to win the meet based on the results over the past six weeks. However, they were not able to hold their position at the two and a half mile mark, losing significant ground in the final half of the 8000 meter race to finish sixth out of 36 teams with 163 points, 46 points out of first and 13 points away from qualifying for the NCAA Championships. The women, seeded fifth going into the race were a bit banged up and knew a top five finish was the best they could expect. A lack of confidence and aggressiveness pushed them out of the top five into a distant 7th out of 47 teams with 282 points. Nevertheless this was the highest finish in the history of the program.
The men's race started well for MIT as being on the far left of the starting line they needed to get out quickly so they did not get caught on the inside of the first turn, which was only a couple hundred yards from the start. With the course being quite flat there were no concerns with getting into the front of the pack by the first mile, which MIT did quite well in a pedestrian like 4:59. At the two and a half mile mark they had moved up with Jake Ruzevick, one of the favorites to win the race, in the top group, followed pretty closely by Yermie Cohen and Joe Roy-Mayhew. Also in the top 25 were Trevor Rundell, Brian Jacokes, Gihan Amarasiriwardena and Hemagiri Arumugam.
Just after the three mile mark Ruzevick was pushed down from behind and in his attempt to get up he was pushed back down two more times and stepped on. Eventually he got up after losing 30 or so places. Cohen's hamstrings were cramping up, causing him to lose places fast. Roy-Mayhew worked his way to the lead by the four mile mark and Ruzevick was back in the top 15. What was a seven second delta one through seven at the two mile mark was now :31 seconds for one through five at the four mile mark. MIT was still in pretty good position for third or fourth place but was unable to hold their position in the final mile of the race. Seventeen runners passed Roy-Mayhew and his teammates, putting 20 seconds between the winner and the first MIT runner. The team delta was still a very good 32 seconds with the top five running 25:25 to 25:47, but with Roy-Mayhew at 18th place, Ruzevick at 20th, Rundell 34th, Arumugam 43rd and Cohen 48th out of the 330 runners the point total was just a little too high for such a competitive region.
Going into championship week the women's team was showing the wear and tear of the season. Maria Monks was fatigued and needed to take a few days off to recover. Jennifer Doyle was dealing with a possible stress fracture and also had to miss a few days and two hard workouts. A couple of others were having a difficult time finding their confidence. However, nothing was keeping Elizabeth Finn from setting her sights high for the 6000 meter race. Similarly to the men, the women got out very well at the start. At the mile mark Monks was in sixth place with Finn close behing and freshman, Katy Gordon, in 15th position. Doyle, Adrienne Bolger, Liz Labuz and Jacqui Wentz were together but a little far back at 5:57 for the mile, about eight seconds behind Gordon. Unlike the slow pace for the men, the leading women took the pace out hard, stringing the field out.
By two miles, MIT was in trouble. Monks had fallen back to 16th place and Finn had lost a couple of places as well but had come to within three seconds of Monks. Gordon lost 10 more seconds to Finn, and Bolger, Labuz, Doyle and Wentz lost 25 just in that mile. The final mile and three quarters was more of the same. Finn fought hard and stayed in 20th position, earning the final individual spot for the NCAA Division III Championship next weekend at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. Monks, feeling the fatigue that affected her the past couple of weeks, fell to 38th. Gordon placed 54th, Doyle managed the pain to finish 82nd and Bolger 90th out of the 344 racers to close out the scoring for MIT. The 1:13 delta was the worst for MIT for the season, probably a combination of Finn's great run and the problems affecting others in the top five.
There are no seniors among the top 12 runners for the women's team, so there is hope the team will be back and much improved next year. With some of the top recruits possibly joining the team for next year MIT should continue to improve and be among those fighting to qualify for the NCAA Championship.