The Washington University men’s and women’s cross country teams placed 7th and 10th, respectively, at the NCAA Division III national championship meet Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio. (Joe Angeles | WUSTL Photo Services)

The men, entering the weekend meet in Cleveland unranked, placed seventh in their best finish in program history, while the women placed 10th.

The Lady Bears were led by junior Taryn Surtees with a time of 22:36 in the 5-kilometer race, which earned her 13th place overall and All-American honors for the second time in her career. She was followed by senior co-captain Molly Schlamb, who had a time of 23:07, earning her 35th overall. Behind her were junior Jessica Londeree (23:12, 39th place) and sophomore Elizabeth Phillips (24:11, 118th place).

“It was a challenging race,” Surtees said. “The conditions were less than ideal. The women’s team had a solid performance, but it wasn’t perfect.” The Red and Green improved on last year’s 12th place finish in their sixth straight year of running in the NCAA National Championship.

The men were led by sophomore Michael Burnstein with a time of 25:56, finishing in 16th place out of 220 runners in the 8-kilometer race. His performance garnered All-American honors. Burnstein was followed by junior Dave Spandorfer (26:30, 46th place), junior Kwin Keuter (26:41, 69th place) and sophomore Tucker Hartley (26:43, 72nd place).

“We never expected to get seventh. Our goal was just to land in the top 10, so we were blown away when we heard the results,” Burnstein said. This was the fifth time that the men have competed at the NCAA National Championships.

“The meet was incredible. I’ve never been so happy in my whole life,” Keuter said. “This season is proof that the Wash. U. men’s cross country team is one of the best in the country.”

For co-captain Molly Schlamb and the rest of the team’s seniors, the meet was bittersweet.

“I’m proud of the effort the women put into their races on such a tough course yesterday,” Schlamb said. “I’m sad that it was my last cross country race, but I was happy with my performance.”

Many runners are looking back on this season as a stepping stone for greater success in 2010.

“It was a good season and an important experience for our team. Next year we will return six of our top seven runners,” Surtees said. “We have a lot to look forward to.”

Others are focusing on training and making sure they’ll be ready for the winter. “I’m going to be training for some indoor races like the 5k until next season starts. I want to be in nationals again,” Burnstein said.

Most, however, are just happy to be able to relax finally. “Next year should be another awesome season,” Keuter said, “but for now I think we’re all content to bask in the glow of this season.”

Sophomore Michael Burnstein races at the Big River Running Early Bird on Sept. 5. Burnstein led the Bears to a third-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional and a berth in the NCAA Championship in Cleveland on Nov. 21. (Johann Qua Hiansen | Student Life)

Major: Urban studies
Hometown: Brookline, Mass.

After coming off bouts of both the flu and pneumonia, sophomore Michael Burnstein led the Washington University men’s cross country team to a third-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional championships this past weekend. At his first race in nearly a month, Burnstein finished 16th out of 282 runners with a time of 24:52.4. The Bears’ third-place finish earned them an at-large bid to the national championship meet.

Student Life: Take us back through regionals this past weekend.

Michael Burnstein: I wasn’t really sure how we were doing. I knew we were all running as a huge pack, which we had never really done before. Normally, we are all spread out, 15 seconds apart from each other, but this time, our whole top four was running next to each other. We ran by our coach with about two miles to go, and our coach told us that we had six [runners] in the top 40. That’s when I knew that we were doing big things, because we did not expect to be that far up.

SL: How big of a race was this for you, coming off pneumonia and leading your team to successful results?

MB: It really meant a lot to me. I did not know what to expect before the race. I figured…I’d either feel great or I was still going to be sick, and I was just going to bomb, but after a couple of miles, and I still felt pretty good, I knew I was healthy, and it ended up working out.

SL: What does this performance at the regional championships do for the team?

MB: It’s huge, I think. The team hasn’t made nationals in three or four years, and we’ve never been third in our region. This is the [highest] we’ve ever finished. We really have a chance to prove that we’re the best team to come out of Wash. U. ever, which is pretty incredible.

SL: Your team faced both the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country this past weekend (North Central College and University of Wisconsin-La Crosse). What kind of confidence does this generate, heading into nationals?

MB:  Just the fact that we were only 13 points, which isn’t very many, behind La Crosse University was just a huge confidence booster. Before the race, we pretty much discounted the possibility of us beating them. We figured, “All right, the best we can do is fourth,” and we ended up getting third and almost getting second. We have a lot of momentum coming into nationals.

SL: Regardless of how the team does at nationals, what does the future hold for this team?

MB: Things are looking really good. Not only do we have a ton of guys from varsity returning next year, but the great thing about Wash. U. is that we just have a huge program of guys that are all committed. We have 40 guys on the team. They could be on varsity on most teams around the country…so I think the team’s just going to continue to get better and better every year.

SL: What do you see as your own outlook?

MB: Personally, I hope I can continue to improve. I think I should. My goal is to get All-American this weekend.

The men’s national championship meet begins at noon (ET) on Saturday, Nov. 21, in Highland Hills, Ohio.

The men’s team also ran well with a third-place finish, but the team needs an at-large bid to make the national meet. Top-ranked North Central College and No. 2 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire won the meet.

Junior Taryn Surtees anchored the women’s team, placing second overall with a time of 21:06. Sophomore Michael Burnstein recorded the fastest men’s time of 24:53, good for 16th overall. All five point scorers for each team were awarded NCAA All-Midwest Region accolades for their placements.

Surtees was followed by sophomore Liz Phillips (seventh place overall, 21:42), senior co-captain Molly Schlamb (13th overall, 22:00) and junior Jessica Londeree (15th overall, 22:06). “For the women’s team, this race was a step in the right direction,” Surtees said. “It wasn’t perfect, but we had a lot of solid performances.”

The team’s national championship berth is its sixth consecutive and ninth appearance at the meet overall. Last year, the Bears placed 12th at the NCAA national meet.

Despite these accomplishments, “the story of the day was definitely the men’s team,” Surtees said.

Burnstein competed for the first time since recovering from pneumonia and still recorded the team’s top finish at 16th place. Junior Dave Spandorfer (20th overall, 24:58), sophomore Matthew Schwab (21st overall, 25:02), junior Kwin Keuter (26th overall, 25:08) and sophomore Malik Nabulsi (35th overall, 25:20) followed Burnstein.

“I think the meet went basically as well as it could have. We were hoping to get fifth, and we got third,” Burnstein said. “The two teams in front of us are ranked first and second in the nation, so that says a lot.”

The women’s team has been preparing for the championship all season and is ready to make a run at the national title.

“It works in our favor that the race wasn’t spectacular. This way, we go into nationals under the radar and with no expectations,” Surtees said. “Our job is to run as a team, and I know we can do that.”

Over 40 non-competing teammates made the trip to regionals to cheer on the team, which the runners say contributed to their successes.

“The meet was everything our team represents, not just because of the runners, but because of the cheering teammates too,” Schlamb said. “To have both men and women qualify for nationals in an atmosphere like that was incredible.”

“Our performance Saturday showed that both men and women are ready to have great team races at nationals. I can’t wait to see what happens,” Schlamb said. The national championship meet begins Saturday at 11 a.m. (ET) in Cleveland, Ohio. The men’s race, should they qualify, starts at noon (ET).

Junior Taryn Surtees took first at the UAA championship and was named UAA Most Valuable Athlete for the second straight year. (Mary Butkus | WUSTL Photo Services)

Hometown: Chagrin Falls, Ohio
Major: Spanish/Biology

Taryn Surtees finished first with a 21:07 as the women’s cross country team won the 2009 UAA championship. Surtees earned the UAA Most Valuable Athlete title for the second year in a row and is the Student Life Athlete of the Week.

Student Life: When did you start running?

Taryn Surtees: I started running track in 7th grade. I ran the 800-meter race after finding that hurdles didn’t really work out for me. The year after I started running cross country as a last minute decision to stay in shape for track. However over time I began to appreciate cross country more and more.

SL: Out of three years running for Wash U., you’ve been the UAA most valuable athlete twice. How was it different the second time?

TS: Last year it was a lot more exciting. It was a really big goal of mine. However this year I’m a lot more focused on the team, I was worried more about how the team was performing at conference rather than just myself. It ended up putting a lot less pressure on me, which is when I run the best, so it was probably a big factor in my race time. Being the UAA most valuable athlete was more of a steeping stone to the greater goals I have this year.

SL: What are your personal goals for the season?

TS: I haven’t talked to the coach yet, but I am really hoping to be in the top 10 at nationals. I was hoping for top 5, and that’s still at the back of my mind, but there are a lot of variables and strong runners who are going to be there, so it’s really more realistic to aim for top 10.

SL: Is there a certain time you want to beat?

TS: Well at Oshkosh I got a 34 second personal best of 21:07, so breaking 21 minutes would be awesome. We have regionals at the same course as Oshkosh, so I hope I will do as well as I would like. But I’m definitely more focused on the team doing well. I was more worried about time when I was in track, but in cross country I’m a lot more focused on the team.

SL: How do you balance work, being a pre-med major, and running?

TS: It’s definitely a learning process, and without a doubt something that I’ve learned how to do with time. I used to feel really bad in freshman year when I couldn’t concentrate on my work on the bus because people were talking, but since then I’ve gotten a lot better at managing my time. I know that I won’t have my team forever so Id rather be spending time with them when I can at the meets, rather than worrying about work that I may be missing. We do run at 6:30 in the morning so that requires getting enough sleep, which can be hard when you have an exam the next day. It’s definitely a trade off between work and running, but I’m getting a lot better at balancing it with time.

SL: You’ve got another year after this. Do you think the Wash U girls can win UAAs again? And do you think you could get most valuable athlete again?

TS: I don’t know. Everything depends on being healthy, who’s in the conference, or if some crazy freshman comes out of nowhere, you never really know. A lot of things could happen. I don’t think we’ve ever had a three time champion at the UAAs, so I would love to be the first.

SL: Is there anything you want people to know about cross country that they may not know about?

TS: Yes! Races are six kilometers! So many people come up to me asking what event I run in cross country. Every cross country race is the same distance, 6K!

Cross country competes at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships on Nov. 14 in Oshkosh, Wis.

Senior Molly Schlamb, above, took sixth place in the UAA championship meet on Saturday morning as the women’s cross country team took first place to capture the UAA title. (Scott Bressler | Campus in Focus)

The team combined for a total of 37 points, beating out Case Western Reserve and NYU for the first-place spot. Leading the team was senior Molly Schlamb, finishing sixth overall with a time of 23:48, to be followed by junior Sangeeta Hardy (23:49:04) in seventh, and sophomore Liz Phillips (23:55:72) in eighth.

Junior Kwin Keuter led the men, finishing 12th overall with a time of 26:47. Finishing just moments later was junior David Spandorfer, who took 13th with a time of 26:49. Freshman David Hamm came in 26th overall with a time of 27:18:05, which earned him the title of the UAA Rookie of the Year.

Despite the teams’ standings, there were many who didn’t achieve personal bests—the fault of which seemed to be the weather and the condition in which the field was.

“The meet was a slopfest, which made for very slow times, but we competed well,” senior Alex Bearden said.

With the men’s top runner, Michael Burnstein, out sick with pneumonia, Bearden made it very clear that the team had to find other reserves to do its best. “We were running without our top guy, but we had some guys come through with clutch performances right when we needed it,” Bearden said.

Overall, the Bears view this meet as a success. “The men’s team really redeemed itself after having a disappointing conference meet last year,” said Keuter, who had his best race of the season. “Our competition at regionals will be really tough, but our success today shows that we’re capable of great things.”

The race was undoubtedly a success for the women’s team, who beat out the second-place team Case Western Reserve, last year’s champion, by over 22 points. “It was such a great team meet, and it was awesome to see teammates working together,” said Schlamb, a co-captain. “I love conference because it’s really focused on being a team, and so to win, that was really fun. We had a lot of people really step up to the challenge yesterday.” The Lady Bears had six runners placed in the top 25.

On Nov. 14, both Bears teams return for the NCAA regionals meet in Oshkosh, Wis.

“We lost to three teams [yesterday] who could all finish in the top 10 at NCAAs,” senior Zach Griffen said.

Despite that, the team remains motivated.

“If we are firing on all cylinders at regionals in two weeks, we will be going to nationals expecting nothing but a top-10 finish,” Bearden said.

“This is one special group of girls, because we care so much about each other outside of running,” Schlamb said. “It makes it that much easier to fight through the pain of racing each other, and instead focus on what’s really important.”

The women were led by junior Taryn Surtees with a time of 21:04, finishing sixth overall. The men were led by sophomore Michael Burnstein who had a time of 24:48, finishing 13th in the meet.

Surtees was followed by senior Molly Schlamb, finishing 10th overall, with a time of 21:55. Rounding off the Bears’ top three female finishers was junior Jessica Londeree, who was good for a 20th place finish with a time of 22:09.

“The meet was awesome; we had a great team race with tons of personal bests,” Schlamb said.

The women’s team was only beaten by top-ranked Calvin College, whose runners combined for 80 points in the meet, beating out Washington University by 13 points. Coming so close to the first place victory showed the Wash. U. team that they have promise to be one of the top contenders in the cross country field, but lots of practice is necessary for that to happen.

“Yesterday showed that we are going to be ready to make a really strong showing in the upcoming meets,” Schlamb said. “The next few weeks we have some tough training to get through.”

Following Burnstein in the men’s race was freshman David Hamm (25:18, 35th), senior Alex Bearden and junior Dave Spandorfer (25:30, 51st), fresh off of an early season knee injury. Finishing off for the Red and Green was sophomore Malik Nabulsi at 64th place, 10 seconds behind Spandorfer.

“We have four weeks until we return to Oshkosh for the nationals qualifying meet in one of the most difficult regions in the country, but by that time we will be a much faster and smarter team,” Nabulsi said. “We’ve only just begun increasing the intensity of our training.”

The team is focusing on training for the time being to get ready for the University Athletic Association meet. “We’ve got some difficult competition from Emory and NYU, but if things keep going the way they have been, it will be a very successful weekend,” Nabulsi said.

Despite all that, the team is keeping its eyes on the prize, with Regionals looming in the middle of November. They are buckling down on their training while figuring out what doesn’t work and fixing it. “Specifically we are increasing our speed work but still maintaining our mileage. We need to continue to work hard in practice to prepare for UAAs and regionals,” Burnstein said.

With enough hard work and determination, this team looks ready for great things at regionals and beyond. “We will line up at nationals knowing that we are ready to see what this team can do,” Schlamb said. “I’m excited to see what we can accomplish together.”

The conditions were beautiful in Terre Haute, Ind., which promised for a good race and even better times. Senior Alex Bearden led the men’s team with a time of 26:11.40 (fifth), and was followed by another senior, Alden Black, with a time of 26:43.09 (19th). The women’s team was led by freshman Bronwyn Bedrick, who held a time of 24:02.00 (17th). Only a second behind, freshman Brittany Cronin finished at 24:03.60 (19th).

Wash. U. had roughly half its team missing from the meet. Due to a number of injuries, and both physical and mental exhaustion, many athletes were kept from running. Senior Hope Rathnam, who finished for the women’s team with a time of 24:37.40, said the team is still strong enough to compete without them.

“Some of our team had to take the weekend off in order to take a mental and physical break since we just had a big race in Louisville and another one coming up in Wisconsin,” Rathnam said. “Although we had only about half our team racing, we still had a very strong meet.”

The Gibson Family Invitational was a rest meet, focused more on getting the team ready for the big meets coming up, according to members of the team.

“The meet was all about having fun and setting ourselves up to run well at next week’s big meet, where we’ll field our full team for the first time this season,” said co-captain Bearden, who was the men’s leader over the weekend. “It’ll be our first good look at the competition we’ll face at regionals in November, so the meet was a success.”

The teams continue getting ready for their huge meet in November. The entire season has been devoted to securing a spot at NCAA regionals and running well enough to go beyond them. The runners and the coaches have been working overtime to make sure that the team is prepared and ready to do well enough at regionals to continue this year’s run to more challenging and difficult competition.

“We’re excited about how well the freshmen have been racing,” Rathnam said. “The adrenaline is starting to build for the big races coming up.”

The Bears compete at the UW-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 10:30 a.m.

Against mostly Division I squads, junior Tayrn Surtees was able to lead the women with a time of 18:04:28, and sophomore Michael Burnstein led the men with a time of 25:06:99. Surtees finished 21st and Burnstein finished 45th.

Running against Division I teams like University of Kentucky and Western Kentucky University, two runners on the women’s team were able to break the 20-minute barrier: juniors Jess Londeree (18:44:48) and Sangeeta Hardy (18:55:91).

Freshman runner David Hamm ran for 25:47:62, finishing second among the Washington University runners. Sophomore Malik Nabulsi, who beat his time from last week’s meet by over a minute, said, “I think we left this meet a much better team because we took risks during the race and learned from them.”

Senior Molly Schlamb, the second finisher for the Red and Green, finished 10 seconds behind Surtees. “The race was awesome with perfect weather, a fast course and great competition,” Schlamb said. This is the second meet in a row in which Schlamb finished second for the Bears. Schlamb beat her time from last week’s meet by just under a minute.

The teams continue to have their eyes set on the regional meet in November. The teams did well to continue their drive to qualify, which senior Zach Griffen attributes to the fact that Saturday’s meet was the best meet the teams will run all year. “This meet was all about getting our feet wet,” Griffen said. “NCAA regionals and nationals will be similar to yesterday.”

If Wash. U. runners continue running like they have been, they will be able to run at regionals and continue their trek to qualifying for nationals. The team is slowly working its way up and aiming to field an experienced squad.

“Come regionals we are going to have a strong seven [runners] toe the line, and we will all feel the excitement,” Nabulsi said.

Junior Sangeeta Hardy led the way with a time of 20 minutes and 32 seconds in the 5K as Bear after Bear came flying through the finish line.

“We’re always strong from the front,” Hardy said. “We were cheering for each other when we overlapped each other.”

Freshman Jason Dorn batles the elements in last weekend’s Wash. U. Early Bird meet. Dorn took third and led the men to first place at the Maryville Classic, with the women also taking first. (Johann Qua Hiansen | Student Life)

Freshmen Anne Correll and Brittany Cronin rounded out the top three with times of 20:51 and 20:56.

Junior Anna Shafer-Skelton (21:12), sophomore Elisabeth Stocking (21:19) and junior Augusta Dunse (21:22) crossed the line in fourth through sixth place respectively. In cross country, points are assigned for each racer’s placement. The lowest team score, combining the best five racers, wins the meet, and a score of 15 is considered a perfect score.

Senior Allison Bickel and sophomore Sarah Britton placed eighth and 10th overall

“Our strategy was to go out, control [the field] and just finish strong,” Bickel said. “It’s encouraging this early in the season.”

Most of the course at Parkway South High School was composed of hilly terrain with tree-lined paths.

“It definitely made you feel more isolated,” Hardy said.

Contrary to last week’s meet, when runners were heavily rained on at Forest Park, Wash. U. track athletes enjoyed a relatively hot and humid day.

Three freshmen led the way to the men’s victory. Jason Dorn set the tone for the Bears, taking third overall with a time of 21:16 in the 6K. Classmate Mikael Boughdiri trailed by four seconds, finishing in fifth place overall, while Josh Lewis took seventh place in 21:25.

“Lewis had a really nice kick in the last [kilometer],” senior Tim Meahl said.

Lewis edged out Lindenwood University’s Blake Austin by a second and Fontbonne University’s Todd Schulte by four seconds.

Meahl (21:38) and junior Peter Bush (21:45) rounded out the scorers with 12th and 13th place finishes, respectively.

The men’s team started off moderately in the pack before making their move at the three-mile marker. “We try to mix it up as we get to the midpoint of the race,” Bush said. “[We] try to get up front and compete with the leaders.”

The squad used this meet to prepare for the 8K races that come later on in the season, according to Meahl.

“The race for the 8K starts at three miles,” Meahl said. “We wanted to be conservative…We wanted to move up throughout the race.”

Some of the strongest performances on both the men’s and women’s sides came from the freshmen.

“The freshmen class in general is really strong,” Bush said, “[a] really talented group of runners [that] could help out the team right now.”

Wash. U. takes a week off before competing at the Southern Illinois University Saluki Invitational at 10 a.m. in Carbondale, Ill., on Sept. 26.

Despite the torrential downpour that turned the 2K course into a massive mud pit, the women’s team took first place while the men’s squad came in second in the Big River Running Early Bird Meet held at the Central Fields of Forest Park. Neither team was deterred by the daunting conditions or the uphill portions of the 2K course. The women ran a 4K, while the men competed in the 6K.

“If it’s snowing…hail, rain, mud, we run through it,” senior co-captain Hope Rathnam said. “That’s what makes it fun.”

The rain-slicked grounds proved to be too much for some competitors who slipped in the meet.

“It’s tough because you can’t really get traction, so you aren’t going to get into a great rhythm,” sophomore Michael Burnstein said. “You have to focus on going as hard as you can on the few dry spots on the downhills.”

Burnstein was the first Bear over the finish line, with a time of 19:55, placing sixth overall. Freshman David Hamm finished 10th with a time of 20:10, while sophomore Malik Nabulsi trailed by two seconds. Each runner was splattered with mud and soaked in water by the end of the race.

Senior Molly Schlamb paced the women, finishing in second overall with a time of 15:04. Sophomore Elizabeth Phillips took third with a time of 15:03, while junior Jessica Londeree placed sixth with a time of 15:31. Each of the seven scorers finished in the top 25, with freshmen Brancoyn Bedrick and Anne Correll at 12th and 14th, respectively. Sophomore Molly Wawrzyniak came in 18th and Rathnam finished in 22nd. The women finished ahead of Division I Xavier University and Saint Louis University.

The men finished behind Xavier. The other top-25 men’s performers were senior Alex Bearden, junior Erik Hinrichsen and senior Matt Kruger, who came in 15th, 18th and 23rd, respectively.

According to head coach Jeff Stiles, both Schlamb and Nabulsi were battling injuries throughout last year.

“It’s really good to validate that [Schlamb is] an All-American runner,” Stiles said. “[Nabulsi has] been a coach’s dream. It just validates that all the work they’ve put in has been worth it.”

But the results and times aren’t as important as the process, according to several runners.

“This race is just about team and seeing where everyone’s at,” said Schlamb, a co-captain.

Both squads look strong after their performances at the Early Bird meet.

“We had three guys who finished higher than anyone last year,” Burnstein said. “None of the three top finishers even ran for Wash. U. last year.”

More importantly, the cross country squad’s bond was solidified. The teams see action on Saturday, when they compete at the Maryville Classic at 9 a.m.

“Coach always says two teams, one family, and I really  think that’s true,” Schlamb said.