The cross country squads hosted the Rothenberg Invitational this weekend at Goddard Memorial State Park in Warwick and defended their home turf. The men earned first place in the five-team field, and the women placed third among five teams.
Will Sheeran '16 led the way for the men, finishing the 8-kilometer course second overall in 25 minutes, 40 seconds. Mark McGurrin '15 finished on Sheeran's heels in 25 minutes, 44 seconds and captured the third place finish overall.
"I think that they competed well," said Tim Springfield, head coach of the men's team. "It was a good opportunity for some of the younger guys to compete up at the front of the race."
Kyler Evitt '14 and Ned Willig '16 were the next runners to finish for Bruno in 25 minutes, 56 seconds and 25 minutes, 57 seconds, respectively. Ben Stephenson '13 was the final runner to score for Brown and earned 11th place overall with a time of 25 minutes, 59 seconds.
Elizabeth Ryan '13 was the first runner to cross the line for Bruno in the women's 5-kilometer race, placing 13th overall in 18 minutes, 59 seconds.
Victoria O'Neil '16 - who set her personal record time of 18 minutes, 20 seconds for a 5k race earlier in the season at the New England Championship - was the next runner to finish behind Ryan in 19 minutes, 3 seconds.
"I felt pretty good about my race," O'Neil said. "It was a pretty hard technical race because it was through sand and a trail run, but I really enjoyed it."
The next two women to finish for Bruno were Kate Buss '16 and Kelsey Albright '14 in times of 19 minutes, 18 seconds and 19 minutes, 20 seconds, respectively.
Emily McGurrin '16 rounded out the top five finishers for Brown with a 23rd place finish overall in 19 minutes, 39 seconds.
"We did well in the sense that we showed other teams that we can compete with the girls that we had," O'Neil said.
The teams will next compete Oct. 27 at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships, hosted by Princeton. Last year, the men earned fourth at the competition, and the women came in seventh. O'Neil said she is excited to compete against the other Ivy League rivals and hopes to come in "top seven for the team." The men will continue to work on "keeping our groupings together" during the next week, Springfield said.
"The training that the guys have done has been excellent," Springfield said. "Their fitness level is high, and we just need to let that come out in a racing setting better than it has been."
