The women's cross country team gave its best as mother nature showed off her worst Saturday at the New England Championships at Boston's Franklin Park. The Bears ran strong despite being pounded with rain for all of the race's five kilometers. The messy conditions did not slow the women down, as the team placed three runners in the top 25 and defeated Ivy-rival Harvard for the second meet in a row.
Captain Anna Willard '06 crossed the line first for Brown in 17th place with a time of 18:35. Anya Davidson '06 finished one second back in 19th place. Davidson's impressive performance came in her first 5k race of the season.
Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Craig Lake was impressed with the effort. "Anya really stepped it up this weekend, which is fantastic for our team," Lake said. "Her improvements will help everyone around her step it up as well."
Michol Monaghan '07 finished in third position for the Bears, while Herald Assistant Sports Editor Jilane Rodgers '06 took the fourth spot. Lindsay Kahn '09 rounded out the top five for the team. All three women recorded season-best times in spite of the muddy course.
The sloppy conditions proved perilous for standout Naja Ferjan '07, who rolled her ankle in the last mile. Ferjan, Bruno's top runner, was forced to limp to the line.
"The course was really slippery and there were so many people in the race that it caused everyone to get bunched up," Ferjan said. "I just got tripped in the pack."
The meet also featured a rare junior varsity race. The Brown women dominated the field, placing first of 23 teams. Smita Gupta '08, Herald Sports Staff Writer Madeline Marecki '07 and Kelly Powell '06 all snagged top-10 finishes. Becky Crossin '08 and Hannah Nichols '08 topped off the scoring for the junior varsity squad.
The team used the New England meet as a training run to test race tactics going into the Heptagonal Championships on Oct. 28. Lake felt the team's performance was a success.
"It was a great weekend for us," Lake said. "The women ran a controlled first mile and worked together to move up in the race."
The Bears are not competing the next two weekends while they prepare for the Heptagonal Championships. The extra time off will allow the team time to recover from some of their toughest workouts of the season and to focus on their Ivy rivals.
"It is our goal to be fresh and ready to go for the Ivy League championships in order to improve on our 7th place finish from last year," Lake said.
The women harriers will have their work cut out for them when they travel to New York's Van Cortlandt Park in three weeks. Three Ivy League teams are currently ranked among the top 25 in the country, while two more are threatening to join this list.
But Ferjan remained optimistic. "We have a strong top five right now," she said. "After these next couple weeks we will be ready to go."
