Spring Break
CROSS COUNTRY: Norton leads men's squad at Nationals
by Ian Cutler
Sports Editor
Sports | 11/25/08
Posted online at 11:27 PM EST on 11/24/08
Chris Brown '12, Kerwin Vega '11 and Zach Schwartz '11 rounded out the scoring for the Judges, placing 155th, 186t, and 198th, respectively. Mike Stone '09 and Dan Anastos '12 were the Judges' final competitors, finishing in 220th and 239th place, respectively.
Stone, the only senior to run for Brandeis, said the NCAA Championship was the perfect place to end his cross-country career.
"It's very gratifying to make it here, especially in my senior year," he said. "I'm very happy to help get the team to this point. The whole atmosphere is geared towards everyone bringing their best performance. It was pretty amazing."
Boutin had similar thoughts on the Judges' run toward the National Championships and felt the experience will help him grow after his first collegiate season.
"Being around a group like these guys was great. They really helped me out with the transition to college running," he said. "I was in awe the entire time of Nationals. It's really exciting to be a part of the first Brandeis team to make it here in 10 years."
Next season Brandeis will lose only one senior from the top seven finishers from the NCAA Championships. The Judges will return a core of this season's first- and second-year runners, including Norton and Boutin, the 2008 University Athletic Association rookie of the year. The team also will see the return of last year's UAA rookie of the year Mekonen Gendebo '11, who missed time this season due to injury.
"I think we can come back and get up on the podium and have a few All-Americans next year," Norton said. "We'll come back more experienced and be able to gear towards the NCAA meet more. This year we geared more towards Regionals, and even though we ran well here the focus was really on just getting here, and I think next year we'll be in a position where getting here is not something we're going to settle for. We want to come back and do well."
Stone, the only senior to run for Brandeis, said the NCAA Championship was the perfect place to end his cross-country career.
"It's very gratifying to make it here, especially in my senior year," he said. "I'm very happy to help get the team to this point. The whole atmosphere is geared towards everyone bringing their best performance. It was pretty amazing."
Boutin had similar thoughts on the Judges' run toward the National Championships and felt the experience will help him grow after his first collegiate season.
"Being around a group like these guys was great. They really helped me out with the transition to college running," he said. "I was in awe the entire time of Nationals. It's really exciting to be a part of the first Brandeis team to make it here in 10 years."
Next season Brandeis will lose only one senior from the top seven finishers from the NCAA Championships. The Judges will return a core of this season's first- and second-year runners, including Norton and Boutin, the 2008 University Athletic Association rookie of the year. The team also will see the return of last year's UAA rookie of the year Mekonen Gendebo '11, who missed time this season due to injury.
"I think we can come back and get up on the podium and have a few All-Americans next year," Norton said. "We'll come back more experienced and be able to gear towards the NCAA meet more. This year we geared more towards Regionals, and even though we ran well here the focus was really on just getting here, and I think next year we'll be in a position where getting here is not something we're going to settle for. We want to come back and do well."
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