The BU cross country teams closed their respective seasons this past weekend with the NCAA Northeast Regionals. PHOTO COURTESY STEVE MCLAUGHLIN
The Boston University men’s and women’s cross country teams were busy this Friday, closing their respective 2015 campaigns by competing at the NCAA Northeast Regional meet hosted at Franklin Park.
Senior Kevin Thomas finished in 20th place, leading the Terrier harriers. The Marshfield native’s performance helped the Terriers place 19th in a field of 28.
Based on his performance on Friday, Thomas earned All-Region honors from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, becoming the first nominee for BU since Rich Peters in 2012. To qualify for the accolade, a runner must place in the top 25 individually at one of the nine regional races.
In addition to Thomas’ success, other Terriers finished well at the regionals, among them senior Alec Olson, who finished 88th out of 255 runners with a time of 32:21.8.
Patriot League Rookie of the Year Alexander Seal finished next with a time of 33:04.6.
On the women’s side, freshman Courtney Breiner, making her NCAA debut, paced the Terriers with a time of 22:38.0 in the six-kilometer race, putting her in 103rd place out of a field of 256. As a team, the women finished 26th out of 38.
Junior Hallie Armstrong also had an impressive finish for BU, coming in at 22:48.5. She was followed by freshman Jamie Grossman (22:57.4) and senior Shelby Stableford (23:06.3), recipient of Academic All-Patriot League honors earlier this season.
Rowing finishes fall season at Foot of the Charles
The Boston University men’s and women’s rowing teams also concluded the fall portion of their 2015-16 schedule this weekend at the Foot of the Charles, highlighted by a victory in the varsity eight race for the men and four top-five finishes for the women.
The men’s team defeated crews from Harvard University, Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology en route to the victory. The Terriers’ varsity eight boat clocked in at 12:19.6, while the “C” boat finished ninth at 12:30.1.
The women’s team, racing on Saturday, took second place in the varsity eight race. Coxed by senior Rachel Cohn in windy conditions, the varsity eight finished with a time of 22:31.0, just ahead of the rival Crimson.
The Terriers’ openweight varsity eight boat, coxed by junior Marlaina Miller, placed ninth (23:36.2).
Coxed by sophomore Erin Gannon, the varsity “A” boat took home first place in the varsity four race with a time of 16:54.4.
“I was really happy with our fours’ performance,” said women’s rowing head coach Stacey Rippetoe in a BU Athletics release. “Those were difficult conditions today and I thought they did a really nice job of battling through it. It is always nice to go into the winter break with a win.”
The spring season for the women begins at Clemson University on March 14, and the team will continue to train in order to build upon its success this fall.
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