Women's X-Country Conquers RPI, WPI
By Jennifer DeBoer
TEAM MEMBER
In a complete reversal of last year’s scores, the women’s cross-country team overcame oppressive heat and humidity to beat WPI, RPI, and combined alumni from all three schools. Saturday’s combined Engineer’s Cup and Alumni Meet races kicked off the squad’s season.
Coach Paul Slovenski cited the young team’s depth as a “key” contributor to this weekend’s win and the season’s positive outlook.
“[We are] the youngest, most promising squad in the league, especially with the addition of some hotshot freshwomen,” Slovenski “Sluggo” said.
Teamwork unmistakably helped the MIT runners, as four of the top seven scorers ran nearly the whole race in pairs. Martha W. Buckley ’04, MIT’s first finisher, came in at 19:32, followed directly by Julia C. Espel ’05. Freshman pair Betsy R. Eames and Valerie Y. Kuo finished two spots later at 20:40 and 20:47, respectively. Two more finishers later, Kathleen R. Huffman ’04 and Lynn K. Kamimoto ’05 finished at 21:04 and 21:20, respectively. Rounding out the scoring finishers was Veronica A. Andrews, who came in at 21:33.
“My guess is that they’re going to run tough and together by packing it up on opponents through their sheer numbers. ... [We’re] trying to gang up on other competitors by working together as one,” Slovenski said.
The team finished with a total time of 1:42:17, averaging 20:27.40. Their score was 15, half of last year’s score in the Engineer’s Cup in which the team fell to RPI and WPI. This year, RPI finished with 20 points and WPI with 26.
“Can’t wait to see what we’re made of this time around. ... Together is the magic word!” Slovenski said.
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