Many of the cross country team's young runners got their first shot against college competition at the Dartmouth Invitational in Hanover, N.H. Though the Bears struggled in their first college meet, they remain optimistic about the rest of the season.
The women finished fourth out of five teams with 106 points, narrowly edging out Middlebury College by one point. Leah Eickhoff '15 led the Bears, finishing the 2.9-mile course in 17 minutes, 37 seconds — good for ninth place on a course she said had to be altered due to recent flooding in New Hampshire.
"In the first college race, you can't have really high expectations," Eickhoff said. "You just try to do your best and know you have way more to go."
"I'm having a lot of fun with it," Eickhoff said. "Team chemistry is really good, and I love the coach."
Alexandra Conway '15 finished next for Brown and 16th overall in 17:51, followed by Abigail Jones '15, who came in third for Brown and 29th overall with a time of 18:20.
"We ran our healthy first-years and a few middle distance women and a couple of underclassmen that we wanted to give a little bit of confidence to in a low-key setting," said Mitchell Baker, head coach of the women's cross country team. "Everyone felt like their training was already translating into more control and poise."
The men finished in last place of the four teams competing at the meet, 25 points behind third-place Middlebury. Kyler Evitt '14 finished the 4.5-mile course first for Brown and 22nd overall in 23:22. The first freshman to finish, Mark McGurrin '15, came in four spots behind Evitt with a time of 23:35.
"I don't feel like I was quite totally ready to race," McGurrin said, though he added that he ran better than he had expected.
"I'm very pleased with their attitudes and their willingness to work hard," said Tim Springfield, head coach of the men's team. "I also know they have a very long ways to go. I'm not upset about that, but that's just the reality."
With the first meet under their belts, the men and women look ahead to the Sept. 17 Iona Meet of Champions in New York City.
"This is like top squad trial one," Baker said. "Then a couple weeks later, we'll try to narrow it down."
"My goals for the team are to train really consistently and train at a higher level than we have in the past and to race really consistently and to execute really well," Springfield said. "I don't know what that means in terms of what place we'll end up at the championship meet."
