Ruzevick's National Bid Paces Cross Country At New England Regional Championships

Nov. 11, 2006

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - MIT men's cross country ended its 2006 campaign with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA New England Regional Championships. The Engineers, which pulled together a strong second-half to the season, were paced by sophomore Jake Ruzevick, who qualified for the NCAA Championships with an 11th-place finish in the individual standings.

Ruzevick followed up on last week's runner-up spot at the NEWMAC Championships with his first national berth and MIT's first individual bid since Ben Schmeckpepper won the New England regional in 2004. Ruzevick split 26:04, and finished less than 30 seconds off the pace set by Trinity's Norte Hunter, who won the race with a time of 25:37.

MIT's second finisher was Joseph Roy-Mayhew, who finished 39th after racing to a split of 26:39. The New England Regional, which boasted over 300 finishers, was incredibly tight and about 15 seconds separated Roy-Mayhew from earning a second at-large bid for the Cardinal and Gray.

Reigning NEWMAC Rookie of the Year, Johannes Schneider, finished 46th overall (26:52), while Kevin Brulois (53rd - 27:02) and Trevor Rundell (57th - 27:05) rounded out the MIT scoring.

Williams College placed three runners in the top 10 en route to a dominating victory in the team standings. Fellow NESCAC teams, Bowdoin and Trinity, finished second and third.