The men's and women's cross country teams bolted to impressive team and individual finishes at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships over the weekend, improving upon last year's results. The men's team took fourth place at the event and the women placed fifth. The competition, which was held at Franklin Park in Boston, was highlighted by a standout performance from Smita Gupta '08.
Gupta claimed seventh place individually to advance to Nationals. She clocked in at 20:54 on the six-kilometer course to mark the first time since 2001 that a runner from the women's team has qualified for Nationals. Gupta's finish was a 15-place improvement on her finish last season, and three and a half minutes faster than her previous performance on the course, at the 2005 Regionals.
Overall, Providence College tallied 73 points for the win, and Stony Brook University took second with a total of 118. Boston College took third with a total of 132 and Syracuse University took fourth with a total of 139. The female Bears were close behind with 142 points, putting them in fifth place. Brown outran Ivy rivals Columbia, Cornell and Harvard, which finished sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
Teammates Ariel Wright '10 and Jenna Ridgway '10 claimed All-Region status. Wright finished in 21:03, good for 11th place, and Ridgway was right on her heels, posting a time of 21:05 for 13th place.
Kesley Ramsey '11 and Megan Fitzpatrick '11 rounded out the Bears' scoring by taking 44th place and 69th place with respective times of 21:50 and 22:18.
On the men's side, No. 4 Iona College captured the title with a team score of 37, followed by the No. 18 Friars with 46 points and Syracuse with 132 points. Brown accumulated a total of 188 points to snag fourth place, two spots higher than last season's finish. The Bears narrowly outpaced Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Yale, which took fifth through eighth place, respectively.
The Bears were headed by Ari Zamir '08 and Christian Escareno '10, who both placed in the top 25 on the 10-kilometer course to earn All-Region honors. Zamir clocked in at 30:27 for 20th place, while Escareno recorded a time of 30:31 to place 24th. Both Bears improved upon their performances at last year's meet, with Zamir finishing seven spots higher and Escareno gaining 42 places.
Ryan Graddy '08, Brian Schmidt '09 and Steve Chaloner '09 also had strong showings. Graddy placed 39th in 30:58, Schmidt placed 43rd in 31:06, and Chaloner placed 64th in 31:26.
