While most people spent Halloween running from ghosts, goblins, and ghouls, WashU’s cross country teams ran for an entirely different reason: to become the University Athletic Association (UAA) champions. On Saturday, Oct. 31, the No. 8 women’s and No. 7 men’s cross country teams traveled north to the University of Chicago, where they placed third and fourth, respectively, in the UAA championships. 

While neither team left with a conference title, the Bears had plenty to celebrate individually. Junior Lucinda Laughlin finished as runner-up in the women’s 6K, while sophomore Max Sudrzynski clinched the men’s individual championship in the 8K. 

No. 8 women’s cross country

The women’s cross country team placed third overall with 97 points. No. 1 New York University (NYU) claimed their second consecutive UAA title with 28 points, followed by No. 6 University of Chicago with 50 points. WashU held off No. 11 Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), which finished fourth with 106 points — just 9 points behind WashU. 

Laughlin was the first Bear to cross the finish line, placing second overall with a time of 20:41.6 and earning First Team All-UAA honors for the second time. 

“I kept thinking I’m not doing this for myself. I’m doing this for the entire team,” Laughlin said. “Remembering that races are about joy and something that we get to be grateful for. We all get to go out there on that line and race together, and I think that’s really special.”

For Laughlin, that perspective helped shift the focus away from the pressure of competition and toward the experience of racing.

“I really just wanted to stay with the people that I was running next to, enjoying every second and taking it all in,” Laughlin said. “It wasn’t easy, but it was really, really fun” 

First-year Lucy Luetkemeyer was the second Bear to cross the finish line, securing 14th place with a time of 21:42.8 and earning the final spot on the All-UAA Second Team. Senior Avery Nason (22:02.4) and junior Sally Carrington (22:02.7) were the Bears’ third and fourth scorers, finishing within 0.3 seconds of each other. 

“Running with people [during the race] on the team is super helpful,” Laughlin said. “You build off each other’s energy. You hype each other up, and you just know that you have someone right next to you.”

This support translates into a team-wide strategy: Runners work together to gain ground throughout the race. 

“It’s … team culture to really run with each other, because you’re not competing against each other, but you’re actually competing with each other,” Laughlin said. “The goal is to keep moving up together and to keep passing people as a unit.”

Junior Maddy Lee clinched the fifth spot in WashU’s scoring five, finishing 30th with a time of 22:10.2. 

The team’s third-place finish solidifies WashU’s position among the country’s top programs; however, a 69-point gap still separates the Bears’ and the NYU Violets’ performances. 

“[In the next few weeks], we will keep building our fitness, having great workouts, hanging out together, having movie nights and dinners and breakfasts and lunches, and really forming a great bond between all of us,” Laughlin said. “Having a group of people that really love each other is a huge factor in winning or doing really well at a national championship meet.”

No. 7 men’s cross country

WashU finished fourth out of eight teams with 76 points, falling behind two lower-ranked teams: No. 12 CMU and No. 18 University of Chicago, who finished second with 61 points and third with 69 points, respectively.

“It really came down to just the right day,” Sudrzynski said. “If we had just one more guy in our top five hit that top 15 position, we would have won the meet.”

The course itself also presented challenges, as most of the underclassmen Bears had never run on UChicago’s home turf.

“The most surprising thing was a really sharp U-turn in the middle of the course,” Sudrzynski said. “A lot of guys were getting tripped up there, with a lot of pushing and shoving. It was super packed, especially at the beginning of the race.”

Despite the unfamiliar terrain, Sudrzynski delivered a standout performance, earning the title of UAA champion. After finishing 10th in 25:08 when WashU attended the conference meet last season, Sudrzynski climbed to the top of the podium this year, crossing the finish line in 24:17.7.

“Last year was definitely new territory for me, especially coming from running the 5K in high school. It was a big jump in terms of races, so it was just kind of about getting adjusted to that longer [8K] distance,” Sudrzynski said. “This year, I came a lot more prepared. … It was really just the process, trusting it and being patient.”

The next three Bears to cross the finish line all placed in the top 20. First-year Toby Wong was the second scorer, placing 12th with a time of 24:44.9 and earning Second Team All-UAA recognition. Junior Ben Lorenz placed 15th, while sophomore Charlie Houck was 20th. Junior Sean Green rounded out WashU’s scoring with a 28th-place finish. With less than a minute separating first from 28th, the tightly packed results underlined the competitiveness of the UAA field, where every second mattered. 

“We’re definitely ready to be a high-placing national team, and we’re ready to just go from this week onto the next,” Sudrzynski said. “We’re prepared for whatever comes at us. We’re definitely going to be a different team in three weeks.”

The men’s and women’s teams will return home for the WashU Open on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. before turning their attention to the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships on Nov. 14 and the NCAA Division III Championships on Nov. 21.