Men's Cross Country: Elis finish third in New England, look to Heps

If this season is supposed to be a learning experience, the Bulldogs are learning quickly. Beginning the season with an eight-place finish at the Great American Cross Country Festival and then losing by 17 points to Harvard, the Bulldogs needed a confidence booster. At the New England Championships at Franklin Park on Fri., Oct. 12, the Bulldogs finished strong and took third place out of 40 teams. Only a strong Providence team favored to win the meet and Harvard finished ahead.

"This has been the best finish for this race in my four years of running, "Captain Alexis Surovov, SM '02, said. "We ran well, and this race shows we are heading in the right direction," Surovov finished in 11th place with a time of 25:03. The rest of the squad also ran well; Lucas Meyer, DC '05, finished 22nd; JC Reindl, BK '03, finished 31st. Almost all the runners finished within 30 seconds of each other; such a close finish is a goal for the Bulldogs and a sign of overall improvement for the team.

The team's full potential came out because everyone focused more on running than results. "Runners in general tend to over-analyze. Sometimes they should just let their emotions take over, get caught up in the moment and race to the best of their ability," Head Coach Dan Ireland said. "Last weekend we had a solid effort out of six of our seven runners."

The Bulldogs' next race is the Heptagonal Championship on Fri., Oct. 26, the only meet that determines the Ivy League rankings. "Last year we finished 8th in our league. If we run to our full potential, I think we could place possibly third, more likely fourth," Ireland said. "But if we run a mediocre race we could end up eighth again."

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