The 2017 UAA cross-country championship race was full of new experiences for the Washington University cross-country teams, though with some familiar results. The men’s and women’s cross-country teams competed in Woodland Park, N.J. to defend their UAA crowns Oct. 28. It was their first time ever running at the course and the unique structure presented some adjustments for the team.

Courtesy of Anthony J. Azama

The women’s cross-country team celebrates its UAA championship win this weekend. In addition to the women’s team’s win, the men’s team also won a UAA title in New Jersey Oct. 28.

“[There were] lots of rocks, very little grass and road crossings,” head coach Jeffrey Stiles said. “The footing was questionable in lots of places, arguably dangerous. It was one of those ones where you’re hoping not to come out with any injuries. We had a couple kids who went down on rocks or whatnot, but overall it went very well.”

The men’s and women’s teams were not affected much by the troublesome terrain. Both finished first in the race, running away with the championship medals.

In the 8-kilometer course, the men (ranked ninth) finished with a score of 40 and a total time of 2:11:24, two minutes and 39 points ahead of the second placed Carnegie Mellon University. The seventh-ranked women scored 37 points in their 6-kilometer race, adding up to a time of 2:00:09, one minute ahead and 37 points below the University of Chicago.

Senior David O’Gara led all male runners in the race, finishing with a 25:36.6 time. He became the UAA’s fifth men’s runner to win back-to-back individual championships.

The Bears had two other men’s runners in the top-10 as junior Peter Johnsrud came in fourth and senior Kirby Simon came in ninth with times of 26:12.5 and 26:27.1, respectively. Johnsburg, along with O’Gara, earned first team all-UAA honors, while Simon garnered second team honors.

Graduate student Ben Rosenkranz joined Simon as a part of the all-UAA second team with an eleventh place, 26:29.1 finish. Junior Chris Blagg and sophomore Marco Quaroni rounded out the men’s top-20 finishers.

On the women’s side, it was senior Alison Lindsay leading the way, notching a third place finish with a time of 23:38.0. Following her was sophomore Sophie Watterson, who finished seventh with a time 24:01.6, joining Lindsay for first team All-UAA honors. Saturday’s event was Watterson’s first ever collegiate race.

“She’s done some time trials this year and we knew she was ready to run well,” Stiles said of Watterson. “The last race we had to pull the plug because of the heat, so we didn’t run a lot of our kids in the pre-national meet because it was unsafe.”

Senior Audrey Western (eighth), junior Lisa Gorham (ninth) and junior Jeri Glicksman (10th) came in consecutive order following Watterson’s seventh place finish. They totaled times of 24:03.9, 24:07.4, and 24:17.7, respectively, each of them earning second team All-UAA honors.

Going forward, the varsity cross-country team will prepare for their next race at the Midwest Regionals on Nov. 11 in Rock Island, Ill. Stiles said that much of this preparation will include recuperating from a tough weekend on the east coast.

“We’re going to ride the momentum and we’re going to recover,” Stiles said. “The kids are tired and it beat them up for sure. This week will be mostly recovery.”