No. 1 Women’s Cross Country Claims East Regional Crown; Qualifies for NCAA Championships

Hopkinton, N.H. – The No. 1 nationally-ranked MIT women's cross country team raced to the 2024 NCAA Division III East Regional Championship on Saturday at the Hopkinton Fairgrounds. With the victory, the Engineers earned an automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Division III Championships.

THE BASICS:

Top-Five Team Scores: 1. MIT (56); 2. Tufts (67); 3. Bates (147); 4. Colby (148); 5. Suffolk (148)
Top Overall Finisher: Rachel Brennan of Gordon in 21:43.31
Top MIT Finisher: Lexi Fernandez (Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) in 10th (22:16.77)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Fernandez and junior Kate Sanderson (West Hartford, Conn.), and first year Ava Hartman (New Orleans, La.) each finished the 6k race within a second of each other at the front of the MIT pack. Fernandez was 10th in 22:16.77, with Sanderson taking 11th in 22:17.00. Hartman was 12th in 22:17.06.
Sophomore Heather Jensen (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and senior Gillian Roeder (Delmar, N.Y.) were the final two scoring runners for MIT, but the pair was only a few spots back of the top three Engineers, finishing in 13th and 15th respectively. Jensen had a time of 22:25.20 and Roeder finished in 22:28.00.
Sophomore Megan Diulus (Akron, Ohio) and first year Kate Friedman (Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) added All-Region honors in 16th and 27th place. Diulus finished in 22:33.52 and Friedman had a time of 22:58.91.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

All seven MIT runners earned All-Region honors (awarded to the top 35 in the field), as MIT placed seven runners in the top 27 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.

USTFCCCA ALL-REGION:

10) Lexi Fernandez (22:16.77)
11) Kate Sanderson (22:17.00)
12) Ava Hartman (22:17.06)
13) Heather Jensen (22:25.20)
15) Gillian Roeder (22:28.00)
16) Megan Diulus (22:33.52)
27) Kate Friedman (22:58.91)

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.

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