Cross Country at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational
Saturday, September 21 | 11:15 a.m. (men) / 12 p.m. (women)
Robert Dowd Course | Dartmouth, Mass.

THE SETUP
• The Babson men's and women's cross country teams will be back on the course for the first time in three weeks at the 51st Annual UMass Dartmouth Invitational on Saturday.
• The men's runners will race in the Robert "Buddy" Harris '76 varsity 8K race at 11:15 a.m. while the women will run in a 5K race at 12 noon. There are also sub-varsity races at 10:30 a.m. (men) and 12:45 p.m. (women).

LAST TIME AT UMASS DARTMOUTH
• Graduate student Anthony Rodriguez turned in a 14th place finish among 282 runners to lead the Babson men to a 10th place finish among 36 schools at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational on September 17, 2022, while the Beavers finished in 27th out of 38 teams in the women's race.
• Rodriguez posted a time of 25:14 in the 8K race for the Beaver men while graduate student Ryan Wilson placed 48th in 26:07 and senior Julian Ivarra was 65th in 26:29.
• Junior Chloe Clifford was the top Babson finisher in the women's race, placing 96th among 284 runners in a time of 19:54 for the 5K race. Classmate Alexandra Kirkpatrick was next in 128th in 20:15 followed by senior Ali Thomas in 142nd in 20:31.

SCOUTING THE BABSON MEN
• The Beavers opened the 2024 season with a fifth-place finish out of nine schools at the 10th Annual Wheaton & Babson Season Opener on August 31 at Highland Park in Attleboro, Mass.
• Competing without their top upperclassmen, the Beavers were led by first-year Nick Yacoub, who crossed the line in third place overall and first among Division III competitors in a field of 98 runners in a time of 15:55 on the 5K course. Classmate Daniel Garcia came in 19th place in 16:39, sophomore Brian Gall finished 22nd in 16:43, first-year Sam Zabbo was 35th in a time of 16:52, and sophomore John Hanscom came in 45th in 17:11. 
• The Green and White will have a full line-up on Saturday, featuring two-time NCAA Championships qualifier Rodriguez, 2022 All-East Region selection Wilson, and 2023 All-East Region runner Ivarra. Other key returning veterans include graduate student Matthew Campbell and sophomore Ethan Jina.

SCOUTING THE BABSON WOMEN
• The Beavers opened the 2024 season with a fifth-place finish out of nine schools at the 10th Annual Wheaton & Babson Season Opener on August 31 at Highland Park in Attleboro, Mass.
• First-year Shriya Peddi finished in an impressive ninth place among 84 runners in her collegiate debut to lead the Green and White, finishing the 3K course in a time of 11:59. First-year Sophia Draxler and senior Ali Thomas were the next two Babson finishers in 24th and 26th, respectively, in times of 12:17 and 12:21.
• Junior Alexandra Kirkpatrick placed 35th in a time of 12:33, and junior Chloe Clifford came in 40th in 12:41. First-year Annabelle Svenson had a solid finish in her collegiate debut, winding up 45th in a time of 13:00, just two seconds ahead of sophomore Taijah Harvey, who was 47th in 13:02. Other top runners include senior Eujin Shin, sophomore Colleen Corman, and first-year Brigid Kelly.

FAST TIMES AT UMASS DARTMOUTH
• In addition to Rodriguez breaking the 1991 school-record time by Joey Curtis '92 with a 24:29 at UMD in 2021, and posting the 10th fastest time of 25:14 in 2022, seven of the top 18 8k times in men's program history have been run on the Robert Dowd Course at UMass Dartmouth.
• Mark Gulesian '15 ran 25:09 in 2012 and 25:17 in 2014, two of the top dozen times in program annals, while Wilson's 25:17 in 2021 is tied with Gulesian for 12th-best; the 25:23 by Matthew Dynan '19 in 2017 ranks 16th; and the 25:31 by Kyle Fitzpatrick '12 in 2008 ranks 18th.
• Nine of the top 30 5K times in Babson women's history have come at UMass Dartmouth, most recently by Stephanie Rodriguez '20 in a time of 19:24 in 2017.
• Five of the top 24 times came between 2010 and 2012, and the other three were registered in 2008, 2007 and 1997.

HISTORY LESSON
• The Beavers are set to race at UMass Dartmouth for the 22nd time in the last 27 years on Saturday.
• The men's team has posted eight top-10 finishes, which includes a third-place showing in 1999 to go along with a fifth-place result in 2021.
• The women's squad has come in as high as 12th three times, the last of which came in 2011.

PRESENCE IN THE POLLS
• The Babson men were picked to finish third and the women 10th when the NEWMAC released its preseason coaches' polls in August.
• The Beaver men boast 14 consecutive top-five finishes at the NEWMAC Championship and have recorded three straight third-place results for the first time in program history.
• The men are also ranked seventh in the first USTFCCCA East Region poll this fall.

UP NEXT
• The Beaver men will send their top runners to the Division III Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Indiana on October 4, the site of the NCAA Division III National Championships on November 23.
• The rest of the Beaver men's and women's teams will run again at the Keene State Invitational on October 5.