THE BASICS:
- Location: Boston, Mass. (Franklin Park
- The Lead: Led by a 13th-place performance from junior Leandra Zimmermann (Augsburg, Germany), the No. 3 ranked MIT women's cross country team placed third overall out of 28 teams and claimed the 2017 D3 New England Championship on Saturday at Franklin Park. MIT finished the meet with 131 points overall and beat out Tufts University for the D3 crown. The Engineers are currently ranked No. 3 in the latest USTFCCCA Division III national rankings and first in the New England region.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Zimmermann led the Engineers with a time of 18:23.9 overall, finishing as the No. 2 D3 runner with a mile pace of 5:55.3. Sophomore Marissa McPhillips (Narragansett, R.I.) placed 18th overall in 18:29.7, followed by senior Mary Eccles (Wahiawa, Hawaii) in 23rd place in 18:36.3. Freshman Katie Collins (Newton, Mass.) was the fourth finisher for MIT in 24th place at 18:38.7, followed by sophomore Megan McCandless (Livermore, Calif.) in 53rd place in 19:08.
- Sophomore Jenna Melanson (Woodland, Wash.) was right behind McCandless in 55th place in a time of 19:10.2, while freshman Lindsey McAllister (Los Angeles, Calif.) rounded out the top seven in 68th place at 19:20.3.
- In the sub-varsity race, the Engineers finished fifth out of 19 teams as the team posted 138 points. Tessa Weiss (Scottsdale, Ariz.) led MIT with an 11th-place showing in 19:30.4, followed by freshman Emily Niu (Painted Post, N.Y.) in 19th at 19:38.2. Sophomore Margaret Trautner (Houston, Texas) was the third MIT finisher in 25th in 19:48.9, followed by junior Bailee Margolis (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) in 40th place at 19:59.8.
- The final scoring runner for the Engineers in the race was junior Darby LaPlant (Santa Clarita, Calif.) in 65th place in a time of 20:24.3. The two displacers for MIT were freshman Gabrielle Enns (Chandler, Ariz.) in 75th at 20:33.5, followed by senior Ciera Gordon (La Conner, Wash.) in 93rd place in 20:53.4.
UP NEXT:
- MIT is back in action on Saturday, October 14th as the Engineers travel to Elsah, Ill. for the Cowbell Classic. The meet is hosted by Principia College and is the site of the 2017 NCAA Division III National Championship. The men's race begins at 11 a.m., while the women's race is a 12:15 p.m. start.
STAY CONNECTED:
- For the latest on MIT Athletics, follow the Engineers via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
