The men's and women's cross-country teams finished third and 14th, respectively, at the New England Cross Country Championship this weekend at Franklin Park in Boston. The men's team was led by Matt Herzig '17, who crossed the finish line 16th overall in 24:54 for the 8K. Helen Schlachtenhaufen '17 finished first for the women with in 18:10 for the 5K, good for 53rd place.
The men won the event last year, beating out Yale University by an impressive 40 points. The team expected just as strong a finish, but knew it would be difficult to achieve without their top seven runners, including Will Geoghegan '14 and John Bleday '14, who are resting for next week's Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wis.
"The fact that we were able to run so well at New Englands with our second group of runners, that makes it even more impressive," men's head coach Barry Harwick said.
With an overall score of 89, the Big Green finished just 35 points behind the winner, Central Connecticut State University and just 10 points behind second place Northeastern University. The only other Ivy team to compete was Yale University, which finished a distant sixth with 195 points.
The team got a boost from newcomer Herzig, who, as a Boston-area native, was used to running the Franklin Park course.
"We run a shorter version in high school," Herzig said. "But it's the same course."
Still, Herzig was impressed with his time and finish among top collegiate competition.
"That definitely surprised me," he said. "I was really happy with my race."
Since the scores of the top five runners are the only ones that count toward the team's overall points, the team is working on having those runners finish closer together.
"The goal is the have the first five be in a much tighter pack than they've been," Herzig said.
Nate Adams '17 finished 21st and Tim Gorman '16 took 24th, the rest of the team was spread throughout the top 50, with members finishing in 32nd, 40th, and 46th.
The ability for men's cross country to place so well without the assistance of their top runners speaks to the team's strong composition.
"We have a very deep and very talented team this year," Harwick said.
The women's cross-country team also benched its top runners for the week, including Abbey D'Agostino '14 and Dana Giordano '16, and was less excited about its finish.
"It didn't go that well," head coach Mark Coogan said. "I think they tried hard, but I don't think they ran as well as they could have."
The team failed to place a runner in the top 50, as Schlachtenhaufen finished 53rd. The rest of the Big Green point earners placed 67th, 68th, 89th and 104th.
"It's a good experience for the younger kids to see what it takes to be good and realize that they have work to do to get up there," Coogan said.
With 381 points, the team finished 324 points behind first-place University of New Hampshire and 201 points behind Ivy foe Yale. The women's team placed third at the championships last year, behind winner Boston College and second place University of Vermont.
The team looks to place higher overall at the Wisconsin Invitational this weekend, and potentially move up in the national rankings.
"All the best teams in the country are going to Wisconsin next week, so it'll be interesting to see where we stack up again nationally," Coogan said.
The women's cross country team is currently ranked 13th in the weekly U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll, and the men are at 27th.
The teams resume competition at the Wisconsin Invitational this Saturday at noon.