By Zack Downing, Staff Writer
As the chill descended on New England, the cross country season wrapped up for the Corsairs.
Their last competition was the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championships, hosted by the University of Southern Maine.
It was a windy, 35 degree day, but that didn’t stop the runners from delivering impressive times.
Both the men’s and women’s teams were invited to participate, the men’s team sending five competitors and the women’s sending seven.
A total of 55 teams from all around the northeast came up to participate in the regional championships on the men’s side, making a total of 370 competitors.
The men ran an 8k, and the fastest individual time for the race came from a junior from Plymouth State named Sam Brunette, who ran the eight kilometers in 25:22.8.
The first finisher for UMass Dartmouth was Jason Karakaedos, who finished 48th overall with a 26:22.
Next came freshman Bruno Pires, who was recently given the honor of being named LEC Rookie Runner of the Year. He crossed the finish line in 26:38 to net a 68th place finish.
Pires and Karakaedos finished ahead of their teammates in every meet the Corsairs came to in 2017, proving their value to the team.
In 169th place came the third Corsairs men’s runner, Travis Dolcine, with a time of 28:41. After him was Timothy Post in 239th, who just missed subbing the half hour mark with a time of 30:04. Tyree Gorham came a minute later with a 31:03, finishing off the men’s quintet in 268th place.
The overall winner out of the 55 schools was the MIT men’s cross country team, whose squad got two runners in the top 12.
The women’s side brought 393 competitors from 56 schools, and the seven Corsairs came onto the Southern Maine campus trying to make an impact in their 6K race.
The first place finisher for the women was Kaitlyn Mooney from Coast Guard, who crossed the line in 20:22.
The first woman from UMass Dartmouth, Jessica O’Reilly didn’t cross until exactly 24:00, in 157th place. Freshman Taylor Walsh came next, finishing in 177th with a time of 24:24.
Twenty seconds later ran Victoria Spitaels in the 206th position. Kirstie Harnden was the fourth Corsair across the line, finishing in 255th with a time of 25:26. Hannah Landry was the 283rd runner to finish the 6k, in 25:50.
Christina Ruiz crossed the finish with a time of 26:57, netting a 322nd place finish. The last Corsair across the line was Stephanie Brogdon, under half an hour in 29:41.
Again, MIT was the winning school out of the 56 schools to compete on the women’s side, proving there’s more than just brains at the technical school.
This marks the end of the cross country season at UMass Dartmouth, but the team’s looking for the fastest runners they can find for next year, so head out and try out for the team!