W. Harriers Place Fifth at ECAC; Men Earn 15th at IC4A

The Harvard cross country teams capped off their seasons this weekend at NCAA qualifying tournaments held in New Canaan, Conn.

Running under excellent conditions, the women's team finished fifth place overall in the ECAC Championships, while the men's team cruised in with a respectable 15th place finish in the IC4A Championships.

The women placed fourth in Region One competition. The region's perennial powers, Yale and Dartmouth, earned a trip to the NCAA Finals to be held next week in Iowa. Providence College edged the Crimson out for third place in the region.

Along with Yale and Dartmouth, Georgetown, the top Region Two finisher, qualified for the national finals. Three-hundred-and-fifty runners from 44 teams participated in the 3.1-mile race.

"The race was a very rough and physical one, with plenty of jostling," Harvard Captain Katie Toner. "Our team showed remarkable toughness and maturity by staying in the race and running well."

Sophomore Suzanne Jones ran a fantastic race, finishing sixth overall with a time of 17:21. With her finish, Jones will represent Harvard next week at the NCAA Finals. A strong showing there will give Jones an excellent chance to earn All-American honors this year.

The men's team cruised to a 15th place finish out of about 70 participating teams in the IC4A Championships. The Crimson beat a tough squad from the University of Pennsylvania for the first time this year, but were in turn defeated by Ivy League opponents Dartmouth and Brown.

The Big Green won the overall meet and the Bruins placed seventh in the 6.2-mile race.

Senior Brian Cann led all Crimson runners with a time of 31:17 and finished 34th overall.