A strong group of seniors led the Boston University cross country team as it competed in its final regular season meet at the Central Connecticut State University Mini Meet in New Britain, Conn., last Friday.
BU coach Bruce Lehane said that in spite of rain and a swampy course, his team handled the race well.
“It wasn’t as pleasant as we were anticipating,” Lehane said. “We were running on maybe three to four inches of water … [but] everyone did a good job on the day and had strong, impressive races.”
Senior Robert Gibson was the top finisher for the Terriers, placing third with a time of 15:38.35 in the men’s five-kilometer race. Gibson’s performance was yet another strong race in a very successful season.
“Robert has run some very fast times,” Lehane said. “He’s a critical part of our team.”
Fellow seniors Michael Caputo (16:09.58) and Tom Waterman (16:17.27) placed 18th and 25th respectively. Junior Stuart Ross (29th, 16:23.21) and senior Michael Bhatt (30th, 16:23.57) were close behind to round out the scoring for the Terriers. BU finished with 105 points to place fourth out of 12 teams.
Yale University scored 26 points to place first.
In the women’s three-kilometer race, senior Nikki Long placed 12th with a time of 10:38.38 and junior Danielle Bowen placed 14th with a time of 10:40.11 to lead the Terrier contingent.
“Nikki Long ran well … she’s been doing well and competing hard,” Lehane said. “Danielle Bowen did a good job as well.”
Sophomore Ashli Tagoai (28th, 11:00.24), freshman Erin Pierce (30th, 11:02.74) and junior Janelle Jorgensen (58th, 11:38.68) also contributed to the team score. BU’s score of 142 points was good enough for sixth place out of 14 teams.
Yale also took home the team victory in the women’s race with a score of 24 points.
Many of the top runners for BU were held out of this race in preparation for the NCAA Northeast Regional, which will take place on Nov. 9 in New London, Conn.
“We held out a lot our athletes for what we hope will be our best race [on Nov. 9],” Lehane said. “We’re going to need everybody at the regional meet.”
Lehane said the team, particularly the men, will be extremely competitive at the regional meet.
“We’re very much focused on trying to beat everyone at that meet … and trying to establish that we’re the top team,” Lehane said. “There’s been some bright spots [this season]. The men’s team is strong … we have a good team. The [next] meet is going to show it.”
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