Cross Country at the Smith Invitational
Saturday, September 9 | 10:00 a.m.
Smith College Course | Northampton, Mass.

THE SETUP
• The Babson men's and women's cross country teams will compete in the Smith College Invitational on Saturday, which will serve as a preview for the NCAA East Region championships in November.
• Both the men's and women's races will be on the 5,000 meter course, which will be the site of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) championship races on October 28.

LAST TIME AT SMITH
• Babson competed at the Smith Invitational back on September 8, 2018, which was also the last year that Smith hosted the NEWMAC Championships. The Beaver women placed fifth out of six teams while the men's squad took fourth out of seven teams.
• Nando Baumann finished runner-up in the men's 8K race in a time of 27:09, while Collin Regan '22 crossed the line in ninth place in 28:27. Zachary Goldberg (11th, 28:35), Samir Arora '20 (18th, 29:01), Michael Cantaluppi '22 (26th, 29:25) and Joe Marwill '22 (28th, 29:50) rounded out the top six for the Green and White.
• Emma Cavanagh '21 (19th, 21:39) and Hannah Piispanen (20th, 21:40) were the top finishers in the women's 5K race. Vivian Lehman (34th, 22:22) Nina Sitarski '22 (38th, 22:28), Alida Beste '22 (43rd, 22:34) and Leah Susman (44th, 22:35) rounded out the top six for the Beavers.

SCOUTING THE BABSON WOMEN
• The Beavers took first place out of seven schools last Saturday in the season-opening Wheaton Invitational at Highland Park in Attleboro, Mass.
• Sophomore Alexandra Kirkpatrick placed fifth overall in a time of 12:40 in the two-mile race to pace six Babson runners who finished among the top 14. Sophomore Avery Butt placed ninth with a time of 12:53, junior Ali Thomas came in 11th in 12:57, while sophomore Chloe Clifford finished 12th just a second behind her. 
• The rest of the Beaver contingent included senior Alyssa Keith in 13th place (13:16), junior Eujin Shin in 14th (13:19), first-years Colleen Corman and Isabella Mozilo tied for 19th (13:19) and sophomore Mariana Valencia 29th with a time of 14:45 in her collegiate debut. 

SCOUTING THE BABSON MEN
• The Beavers opened the season with a first-place finish out of seven schools last Saturday at the Wheaton Invitational at Highland Park in Attleboro, Mass.
• Junior Julian Ivarra came in fourth out of 69 runners to lead three Babson runners in the top ten, finishing the 5K race in 16:35. First-year Ethan Jina finished eighth overall (16:54) and sophomore Max Gregoire was a second behind him in ninth. First-year Brian Gall placed 11th (17:02) and the rookie duo of Jonathan Hanscom (17:20) and Almond Nickerson IV (17:22.) were 15th and 16th, respectively. 
• First-year Jack Gramer crossed the finish line in 26th place (17:59) while classmate Niko Manolakos (19:01) was 37th overall. 
 
SETTING THE PACE
• The only NCAA Championship qualifier in men's program history, senior Anthony Rodriguez, who sat out last week's season opener, recorded four of the top eight times in program history last season. 
• In addition to holding the Beavers' 8k school record (24:29), he boasts six of the top eight times in program history.

POLL RESULTS
• The Babson men picked up one first-place vote and came in third behind the defending Division III national champions MIT and second-place WPI in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC). The Beavers also are ranked eighth in the USTFCCCA East Region preseason poll. 
• The Babson women were picked to finish ninth in the conference preseason coaches' poll. 

UP NEXT
• After racing on consecutive weekends for the only time this season, the Beavers will be idle next Saturday before returning to action on Saturday, September 23 at the Dickinson Long-Short Invitational in Newville, Pa.