Hopkinton, N.H. – The No. 20 nationally-ranked MIT men's cross country team punched its ticket to the 2024 NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday by winning the 8k NCAA Division III East Regional Championship at the Hopkinton Fairgrounds. Senior Samir Amin (Olympia, Wash.) was MIT's top-finisher, taking fourth place with a time of 24:46.81. 

THE BASICS:  

• Top-Five Team Scores: 1. MIT (43); 2. Tufts (61); 3. WPI (128); 4. Bowdoin (161); 5. Bates (162) 
• Top Overall Finisher: Jake Velazquez of Keene State in 24:35.22 
• Top MIT Finisher: Amin in 4th (24:46.81) 

HOW IT HAPPENED:   

• Coutts followed his classmate Amin to the finish line, taking fifth place in 24:47.02. Senior Pablo Arroyo (Richardson, Texas) took eighth in 24:57.68, as the trio of veterans paced the Engineers. 
• First year Renne Cooper (Austin, Texas) was the next MIT runner across the line, earning a 12th place finish in 25:13.23.
• Cooper and sophomore Yichen Sun (Chapel Hill, N.C.) completed MIT's team score, as Sun placed 14th in 25:18.03. 
• Sophomore Tim Neumann (Downers Grove, Ill.) and junior Jake Cobb (West Deptford, N.J.) rounded out MIT's times on Saturday. Neumann was 24th with an all-region time of 25:41.68. Cobb was 40th in 26:05.22.  

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:  

• MIT placed all five of its scoring runners inside the top 14. Runner-up Tufts was the only other school to have more than one runner inside the top 15.
• Six MIT runners earned All-Region honors (awarded to the top 35 in the field), as MIT placed six runners in the top 24 overall. 
• MIT has won the East Regional Championship each year since 2021. 2021 was the first year that the NCAA Division III East Regional was hosted following the NCAA's 10-region realignment model for cross country. 

UP NEXT:  

• The NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships will take place on Saturday, November 23, in Terre Haute, Indiana. The women's race will take place at 11:00 AM, followed by the men's race at noon.

USTFCCCA ALL-REGION:

• 4) Samir Amin (24:46.81)
• 5) Sam Coutts (24:47.02)
• 8) Pablo Arroyo (24:57.68)
• 12) Renne Cooper (25:13.23)
• 14) Yichen Sun (25:18.03)
• 24) Tim Neumann (25:41.68)

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