By Rupsha Basu
News Editor
The Emory men's and women's cross country teams competed in the 28th annual University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships, during which the women's team finished third and the men's team finished fifth.
The competition was held at Forest Park in St. Louis, Mo. and hosted by Washington University in St. Louis (Wash. U.).
Eight teams make up the UAA in which Emory competes, including Wash. U., the University of Chicago (Ill.), Case Western Reserve (Ohio), Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.), New York University, the University of Rochester (N.Y.) and Brandeis University (Mass.).
Ranked 30th nationally, the women's team finished four spots better than last year's finish of seventh place, with a total of 106 points. According to Head Coach John Curtin, the women's performance "was a real step for them."
"Seven of the 10 kids ran their fastest times ever on a day that maybe wasn't a personal record kind of day," Curtin said.
He added that the two teams that finished before Emory's team, Wash. U. and the University of Chicago, are likely to be competing for the top trophies at the National Championships.
As Curtin noted, several students ran personal best times in various events. Senior Tamara Surtees clocked in a 6K time of 22:02, which placed her fifth out of 77 runners. Surtees was also the recipient of First Team All-UAA honors, which rewards the best runners among all the teams.
Junior Marissa Gogniat came in 15th in the field with a time of 22:45, the second fastest time for the women's team.
The third Emory finisher was freshman Halle Markel at 23:08 in 26th place.
Sophomore Sophie Cemaj also clocked a personal best with 23:13, placing her at 29th, and senior Elise Viox ran her personal best of 23:21, putting her in 34th place.
Additionally, Markel's performance rendered her eligible for the UAA's All-Freshman Team.
The men's team finished with a total of 119 points.
According to Curtin, six of the eight men's UAA teams are nationally ranked.
"It's incredibly competitive," Curtin said.
Junior Lukas Mees finished the 8K at 25:42, which is his second-best time and earned him 12th out of 78 competitors. His performance received Second Team All-UAA honors.
"It was a privilege to earn All-Conference honors and lead the team as the first scorer," Mees wrote in an email to the Wheel.
He added that he is capable of a better performance, and the Regional and National Championships will be an opportunity to prove that.
Senior Tyler Cooke finished with a time of 25:57 in 22nd place and sophomore Grant Murphy finished 24th with a time of 25:59.95.
Cooke commented on the competitive nature of the meet.
"We would've liked to get higher [than fifth place], but we ran really well together as a team," Cooke said. "Everyone came together and had a really strong race."
Freshman Jordan Flowers finished in 26th place with a time of 26:03 and senior Alex Fleischhacker finished 36th with a time of 26:20.
Mees noted Flowers' and Murphy's performances in particular.
"Both had breakthrough races," Mees said. "Flowers earned a spot on the top-seven All-UAA Rookie Team," which refers to the top freshmen performers in the UAA.
Curtin and Mees both noted that the men's team is currently ranked first in the Southeast Region.
Both said they are looking forward to the rest of the championship season.
"We've shown that we have the fitness, we have the guts to put it all out there on race day," Mees said. "The final piece is having the brains to run a smart race. This will be the deciding factor of whether or not our nationals bid is successful."
Emory's cross country teams will compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) South/Southeast Regional Championships on Nov. 15.
"The real focal point of our season is ... the NCAA championships," Curtin said.
Curtin said he tells his students to break the season into the non-championship half and the championship half.
"When it's all over the thing to remember is the championship season," he said, adding that the UAA is just the first of such competitions.
Cooke also said the team's performance bodes well for the rest of the championship season.
"It's a really good sign going forward to Regionals and Nationals," he said.
Mees added that Assistant Coach Lance Harden's contributions have been paramount to the team's success during his first year coaching the men's team.
"The program will only be getting better," Mees said. "It's an exciting time to be a distance runner at Emory."
– By Rupsha Basu, News Editor
Eagles Compete for UAA Title
Senior Tamara Surtees runs to the finish. Surtees led the women's team to a third-place finish at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships last Saturday. | Photo courtesy of Emory Athletics
