NEWMAC CHAMPS: No. 22 Men’s Cross Country Claims 26th-Straight Conference Title

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Senior Sam Coutts (Pacific Grove, Calif.) won the individual men's title to lead the No. 22 nationally-ranked MIT men's cross country team to the 2024 NEWMAC Men's Cross Country Championship on Saturday at Wellesley College's Nehoiden Golf Club.

Coutts earned NEWMAC Athlete of the Year honors, finishing the 8k course with a time of 24:32.4. MIT had nine runners finish in the top 12 to total a winning score of 25 points. MIT has won all 26 conference championships in the 27-year history of the NEWMAC.

THE BASICS:

Top-Five Team Scores:
- 1. MIT (25); 2. WPI (62); 3. Babson (73); 4. Coast Guard (106); 5. Springfield (129)
Top Overall and MIT Finisher:
- Coutts in 24:32.4

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Babson College graduate student Anthony Rodriguez (Prairie View, Ill.) was second in 24:42.8, finishing just ahead of MIT senior Samir Amin (Olympia, Wash.). Amin was third with a time of 24:44.
The Engineers ran a strong race throughout the lineup, sweeping spots 6-12 in the standings to total nine All-Conference honors.
Junior Jake Cobb (West Deptford, N.J.) took sixth (25:08.2), first year Renne Cooper (Austin, Texas) was seventh (25:09.3), senior Pablo Arroyo (Richardson, Texas) was eighth (25:10.7), sophomore Yichen Sun (Chapel Hill, N.C.) was ninth (25:12.4) and junior Tim Neumann (Downers Grove, Ill.) was tenth (25:14.3).
Cooper's seventh place finish was the best result for a first year in the field, as he was named the 2024 NEWMAC Rookie of the Year with a time of 25:09.3.
Graduate student Jacob Hansen (Bountiful, Utah) took 11th in 25:18.0 and senior Ziyad Hassan (Ashburn, Va.) was twelfth in 25:37.6 to round out the All-Conference finishes for MIT.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

The top 14 finishers in the race were awarded NEWMAC All-Conference honors.
MIT's scoring runners (Coutts, Amin, Cobb, Cooper and Pablo Arroyo) finished with a total time of 2:04.45, averaging a finish time of 24:57 and a spread of 0:38.4.
Coutts is the 22nd MIT runner to earn men's cross country runner of the year accolades.
Cooper is the 23rd Engineer to earn NEWMAC Rookie of the Year honors in program history.

NEWMAC All-CONFERENCE:

1) Sam Coutts (Sr., Pacific Grove, Calif.) – MIT – 24:32.4 - NEWMAC Athlete of the Year
3) Samir Amin (Sr., Olympia, Wash.) – MIT – 24:44.0
6) Jake Cobb (Jr., West Deptford, N.J.) - MIT – 25:08.2
7) Renne Cooper (Fr., Austin, Texas) – MIT – 25:09.3 - NEWMAC Rookie of the Year
8) Pablo Arroyo (Sr., Richardson, Texas) – MIT – 25:10.7
9) Yichen Sun (So., Chapel Hill, N.C.) – MIT – 25:12.4
10) Tim Neumann (Jr., Downers Grove, Ill.) – MIT – 25:14.3
11) Jacob Hansen (Gr., Bountiful, Utah) – MIT – 25:18.0
12) Ziyad Hassan (Sr., Ashburn, Va.) – MIT – 25:37.6

UP NEXT:

MIT will race again in two weeks, on Saturday, November 16, at the NCAA DIII East Regional Championships at the Hopkinton State Fairground in Hopkinton, NH. The men's regional championship race begins at noon.

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