SEPTEMBER 26, 1998
The Men's Cross Country Team took their undefeated record to Franklin Park this weekend to run the 31st Annual Codfish Bowl. Running a solid race from front to back, MIT ran past 15 teams with a low score of 55 points to take the victory and remain undefeated.
The first invitational of the year proved to have a much faster start than any of MIT's previous meets. The lead group ran through the mile mark in 4:52. Bates and UMass/Lowell seemed to be the front runners with both teams having 7 runners ahead of MIT's 4th man, although MIT did have 3 runners in the front group (Mark Strauss '01, Mike Parkins '99, and Dan Feldman '02).
Things did not change much during the more difficult 2nd mile. The leaders pack was down to 5 as they came through the 2 mile mark in 10:11, with Feldman giving close chase. However, MIT, while running in nice groups, had not closed much on Bates.
The third mile was more in Tech's favor. Strauss and Parkins maintained close contact with the leaders as they came through in 15:20. Feldman fell back by 10 seconds, but no one was catching him. A pack of MIT runners (Ed Keehr '01, Phil Loiselle '01, and Frank Johnston '00) had broken up Bates main pack and was only 26 seconds behind Feldman.
In the 4th mile, Robert Mitchell of Amherst broke away from the lead pack and Gary Mello of Bentley was close behind. Strauss and Parkins were giving chase but not making much headway. Feldman had fallen back by 10 more seconds and Keehr, Loiselle, and Johnston had maintained their distance while continuing to catch those opponents who were fading.
Little changed in the final mile except for the amazing charge of Sean Montgomery '01. Sean, a half-miler with a great sense of pace, and little desire to go out too fast, ran a 4:46 final mile (faster than everyone except Strauss) and caught 15 runners. Sean ended up as the 7th man in 32nd place with a 26:46. Feldman finished in 10th, Keehr in 16th, and Loiselle in 22nd to give MIT the winning score. Overall, 21 of 22 runners ran season bests.
Next week, MIT travel to Babson to test the National Qualifying course in the Babson Invitational. Last year's number 2 man, Chris McGuire hopes to run his first race this week as he continues to rehabilitate from a knee injury.