Cross country takes first at NCAA mideast regional

Last Saturday, the Carnegie Mellon cross country team traveled to Waynesburg University to compete in the much-anticipated NCAA Mideast Regional Meet. Despite the rainy and muddy conditions, the men’s team won first place overall out of 43 teams with 37 points. This was their first Mideast Regional win since 1998 and third overall in school history. The women’s team also collectively put up a solid effort, finishing 11th out of 44 teams with 340 points while Johns Hopkins University won the meet with 80 points.

On the men’s side, senior Brian Harvey (25:10) once again led the team and finished first overall to defend his last year’s win. Behind Harvey, junior Dario Donatelli and senior Breck Fresen also had strong races, taking fourth and sixth overall with times of 25:28 and 25:36, respectively. “It feels great to be ‘breckognized,’” said Fresen. “I wish it happened more often.”

Sophomore J.P. Allera and senior Ryan Anderson placed 13th and 17th overall, both with times of 25:50. Sophomore Dan Addis (26:16) rounded out the top six runners with a 25th overall finish. The top six runners took home All-Regional honors by finishing in the top 35.

“It was great to be in the top twenty,” Anderson said. “Last year I was at the very end of the All-Region team, so to make such a jump upwards was satisfying.”

Senior Mike Condon wrapped up a good season with a time of 26:58 to take 53rd overall. By winning the Mideast Regional, the men’s team guaranteed itself a spot in the NCAA national championship meet.

For the women’s team, first-year Liz Stern continued to impress with a time of 23:04, finishing 15th overall. Stern was the only member of the women’s team to qualify for the All-Region team.

Sophomore Courtney Baker and senior Carolyn Clayton took 50th and 58th overall with times of 23:59 and 24:22. Junior Anna Lenhart finished 110th overall with a time of 25:20.

Senior Chrissy Krutz took 126th overall with a time of 25:31. First-years Christine Warner and Cassie Wallace concluded their rookie season with strong finishes, placing 154th and 187th overall with times of 26:01 and 26:43.

“The guys did an amazing job today. It really helped that we had the entire track team and the rest of the cross country team come up to cheer for us — more than any other school, for sure,” Stern said.

The top runners from the men’s team will travel to Hanover, Ind. this upcoming weekend to compete in the NCAA national championship. They have high expectations this year because all of the runners are returning members from last year.