Courtesy of Gil Talbot

The last two weekends have been full of success for the men’s and women’s cross country teams. On October 10, the teams competed in Hopkinton, N.H. at the NEICAAA regional race. With nearly 20 teams per race, the field was a mix of Division I and III colleges. Then, last Saturday, both teams traveled to New London, Conn. for the Connecticut College Invitational.

Coming off of the Maine State Championship race, the teams had three weeks in preparation for their meet in Hopkinton. Axel Nzi ’28 mentioned how the extra time off helped the team refocus for back-to-back racing weekends.

“It was really just first prioritizing recovery and taking advantage of those three weeks [and] making sure that we stay healthy,” Nzi said. “Then, also continuing to build our base, and emphasizing the tempo and threshold workouts we’ve been doing to build up our aerobic base since the races [are] progressively getting more important.”

The women’s team continued its strong season, finishing ninth overall—the best of the Division III schools. Angelina Hickey ’28 and Laura White ’29 led the way for the Polar Bears, finishing in 23rd and 24th, respectively, with times of 18:21.84 and 18:22.80 in the 5k. The duo were the fastest Division III runners as well. Kaylee Hale ’28 came in 54th place, followed by Leta Griffith ’29 in 63rd, Francine Miller ’27 in 68th and Cam Meyer ’28  in 78th out of 288 runners to round out the Polar Bears.

A trend on both the men’s and women’s team, Hale emphasized the first-year class presence in the top finishers at Hopkinton.

“I think each person has improved so much since the last season, and I think this alone has brought such contagious and positive energy to the team,” Hale wrote in an email to the Orient. “I’ve been continually impressed by the first years’ ability to adapt and invest in the team. They bring such an amazing spirit that is inspiring in competition and also outside of running.”

In the men’s 8k race, the team came in 11th overall, second amongst Division III schools. Seamus McDonough ’27 continued his outstanding junior campaign for the Polar Bears as the top Division III runner with a tenth place finish in 24:33.64. Ashton Dunlap ’26 was the second finisher for the Polar Bears, coming in 76th place overall.

“The two things I was looking at were the sheer size of the field and then that [it] was our hilliest course of the season,” Nzi said. “[I]f you go out too hard, the hills are just gonna kill you since you’re doing them over and over again. I really just leaned on trying to find my closest teammate in front of me and then just try to work with them.”

Courtesy of Gil Talbot

The team then raced in the Connecticut College (Conn.) Invitational. There were over thirty teams in each race, including several high-ranked squads, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University and Williams College.

While the larger and more competitive field may feel daunting for some, Hale enjoys the experience of testing herself with her teammates in mind.

“I personally loved competing in a bigger and more competitive field this past weekend,” Hale wrote. “I think meets like this are a great opportunity to hone in on racing for the team and not just with the team.”

The women came in 12th out of 33 teams, knocking off some higher-ranked teams in the process. On a challenging 6k course, the team had an average time of 22:32, led by White with a time of 21:43.8. The first year came in 36th individually, followed by Hale in 84th and Hickey in 87th. Meyer was the fifth scorer for the Polar Bears with a time of 22:40.4.

The men finished in 22nd out of 34 teams, with an average time of 26:01 in an 8k race that had close to 300 competitors. Again, McDonough led the way for the Polar Bears with a time of 25:06.3 for 62nd place individually. Dunlap and Nzi had strong races as well, finishing in 104th and 139th respectively.

The teams will return to the Conn. course next weekend for the NESCAC championships. Last season, the men finished in sixth and the women in ninth in the championship race.

“Having the opportunity of racing at [Conn.] back-to-back…, we should just come in with confidence knowing that the grade of the course doesn’t really matter,” Nzi said. “Just focusing on the packs that we want to stay in, and being able to execute that to the best of our ability will help us achieve great success in this later half of the season.”