GORHAM, MAINE (November 15) -- It was more suited for cross-country skkiing than it was for cross-country running, but amid a six-inch blanket of freshly-fallen snow, 190 runners representing 31 schools, attacked the Gorham Country Club 5-mile layout in search of qualifying berths for the NCAA Division III Championships. The top three teams, and the top six individuals who were not already on those teams, would earn the right to compete for the National Title this Saturday at Franklin Park. The meet is being hosted by MIT.

Junior co-captain Mike Parkins ran a strong and steady race, placing 13th overall in a solid (given the conditions) time of 27:16. Only 7 runners could break the normally-soft 27-minute barrier. Though he ran well, and charged valiantly over the final mile, Parkins came up three seconds shy of the man he needed to catch, and placed seventh in the race for the individual qualifying spots. His performance did earn him All-New England honors.

The team was undaunted by the circumstances -- as evidenced by their being the only squad to tour the course in the wind-whipped stinging snowfall the previous day -- and raced to an 8th-place finish with 241 points, nearly matching the 7th-place recorded by the 1996 harriers.

Williams College totaled 68 points to garner the victory, with Brandeis close behind with 74. Surprising Keene State rallied for the critical third spot, edging out Tufts, who had been ranked as high as 7th nationally, by three points, 95-98. Bates took 5th, Amherst 6th, and Bowdoin 7th. The Engineers did exact a small measure of revenge by beating CAC Champion Coast Guard by 48 points.

It is difficult to gauge the quality of the performance for the rest of the team, given the highly erratic mud-and-ice terrain. Times are largely irrelevant, given that the winner, Robert Mitchell from Amherst College, who clocked a 24:03 at Franklin Park in the New Englands, managed only 26:16 on this tundra.

Sophomore Chris McGuire fought his way to a 26th place, also earning All-New England status (top 35), in a normally-pedestrian 27:50. The footing seemed to work against McGuire, whose low stride style may not have yielded as much traction as the piston-like leg mechanics of some of the other runners (Parkins, for example).

The Next Engineers was senior Sohail Husain, who earned the #3-man spot for the first time with a very solid performance. Husain got out well in the large field and maintained good position throughout the race, finishing in 56th place in 28:50, just a minute behind McGuire.

Co-captain Rich Rosalez had a strong first half, but faded somewhat as the race wore on. His 66th-place finish (29:11) was a milestone performance; it was his first time in this meet, and it marked the first time that he has completed an MIT CC season. His previous years have all found him on the injured list by season's end.

Sophomore Frank Johnston, who ran as seventh or eighth man on average for the season, justified the faith put in him, and raced well to be MIT's #5 finisher in 87th place (29:50).

Freshman Mark Strauss did not have one of his better days, and struggled to 104th (30:15). This final race was not indicative of the strong and aggressive season that he had. MIT looks forward to many quality races from Mark.

Number seven man on the day was sophomore Ray Molnar, in 113th (30:33). Ray was ninth man through the season, but came on strong at the end. Assigned to keep training for the two weeks following the Conference Championships, Ray ran such impressive workouts that he was given the nod to run at Gorham. Making the most of his opportunity to contribute, Molnar got out very well, and ran a very aggressive first 5K. His zeal did eventually give way to fatigue, and his teammates reeled him in.

The season ended here, with the harriers posting an win-loss record of 71-30 against all opponents. Rosalez and Husain are the only seniors in the top dozen on the squad. With Parkins, McGuire and Strauss back next year, and red-shirted junior Leif Seed returning from his studies abroad, Cross-Country at MIT looks strong for 1998.

Some season tickets are still available.