The Dartmouth men's cross-country team blew past its competition, winning the Dartmouth Invitational last weekend, while the women's team finished a strong second.
Led by team captain and All-American Ted FitzPatrick '95, the men swept the first three positions and also took fifth, propelling them to victory with 22 points. Yale finished second out of the six teams with 38 and Brandeis took third with 108 points.
FitzPatrick ran the five-mile course at the Hanover Country Club in 25:14, followed closely by seniors Aaron Bouplon and Sam Wilbur who both crossed the finish line in 25:44. Jack Dwyer '96 finished fifth in 25:56 and Chris Langan came in eleventh.
For the women, Kristin Manwaring '96 cruised the 3.2-mile course in 20:46 to earn third place and Kristin Cobb '95 finished fourth with 20:56. Despite ninth and 10th place finishes by Kristin Pierce '96 and Kelly Roda '97, Boston University, whose runners finished first and second, squeaked by the Big Green 35 to 38. Third place Yale had 68 points.
Both teams head into the season with high national rankings after competing in the NCAA championships last year. Although ranked 10th, injuries to senior co-captain Meegan Larsen '95 and sophomore Heather Worley '97 will hurt the Big Green.
Cobb said her team's performance was hurt because only six runners competed and the team's eight freshmen were involved with orientation activities.
"We've got a great group of freshmen," Cobb said, adding the true test of the freshmen will come at their first meet at the Boston College Invitational this weekend.
The men, ranked 13th nationally and second in New England, hope to capitalize on the fact that they have six of their best runners returning from last year.
None of the teams the men raced against in last weekend's meet are ranked either in New England or nationally.
"We just wanted to go out, win the race and stay healthy and that's what we did," Bouplon said. "We're saving our best performances for later on."
Bouplon said the team hopes to be at peak performing level for the Heptagonal Championships in New York City on October 28. Dartmouth finished third in the Heps last season.
The men will also compete at the Boston College Invitational this weekend.
