Nolan Recker ’26 grabbed the spotlight at the start, breaking his own school weight throw record in his third attempt with a throw of 20.80 meters. He told the News that his new workout regimen, including training with the Yale football team, helped him reach the milestone.

“The workouts I did with the football team over the summer and fall definitely transformed me into a much more conditioned and capable athlete,” Recker wrote to the News.

He hopes to help the team shine at both the indoor and outdoor Ivy League championships and expects to continue to improve until then.

Victoria Guerrier ’27 joined Recker in his success, breaking the school 500-meter record with a time of 1:12.57, which converts to a 1:11.66 on a standard indoor track. The previous record holder was her twin sister, Gloria Guerrier ’27.

“The race turned into a true twin showdown, and we were both excited for it,” Victoria Guerreir wrote to the News, “[Gloria] broke her own record in the first heat, but just five minutes later, I ran my heat and stole both records from her – much to her dismay and my amusement!”

The News recently spoke to the Guerrier twins about their success at the U20 CARIFTA Games. The twins shared in their ambition to win Heps and improve Haiti’s reputation internationally in the upcoming track and field season. 

She credits much of her recent success to a “transformative change in [her] mental training.” She is building mental strength through stress management and empowerment techniques, more polarized physical training and more adaptive nutrition habits — including a pre-race ritual the night before of three peanut butter Clif bars and two bananas. 

Her hard work is reflective of the complete team mindset shift that contributed to a strong season start.

On the track, the Bulldogs dominated the sprinting events. The Yale women’s team secured the top four spots during the 400-meter race, and their 4x400m relay team closed the race with first place, running a time of 3:45.30.

Lucija Grd ’27, another school record holder, placed first in the 60m hurdles, just 0.02 seconds behind her record. 

“I see the school record as a target to aim for and a source of motivation to improve with every race,” Lucija wrote to the News. 

The men’s team led the 200-meter race, sweeping the top three spots with captain Jacob Kao ’25 placing first.

“We didn’t expect to perform well in the 200m and actually had fewer athletes than expected because a few got sick the day of the meet,” Kao wrote to the News. 

In addition to illness and injury, the Bulldogs have been ramping up their training rather than scaling back in preparation for the race. In past years, the team would avoid hard workouts before a race, but this season has looked different for them. The Bulldogs intend to save their taper, or recovery period, for the end of the season for a bigger build and stronger outcomes.

The meet’s outcome also speaks to the new coaching staff appointed this year. Courtney Jaworski, Yale’s new Director of Cross Country and Track and Field, invited two new staff members to the team.

Laura Broderick serves as assistant coach for both track and field and cross-country teams, and Jeff Forino serves as head coach of men’s track and field and associate head coach of women’s track and field, handling jumps and multi-events. Duke Taylor was retained to continue serving as an assistant coach for both track and field teams, working primarily with throwers.

The Bulldogs will travel to the UMass Lowell River Hawk invitational this weekend at the Track at New Balance in Boston, Mass.

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The women’s team, which competed against 19 other teams in Bronx, N.Y., finished 50 points ahead of second-place Bucknell.

The men’s team also sent nine of its seasoned, strongest runners to the Pre-Nationals “B” race in Madison, Wis., who competed against 25 teams. The Bulldogs placed fourth, three points behind third-place Ohio State.

In the women’s race, Claire Archer ’26 led the pack, finishing second overall at 20:50.7. Linde Fonville ‘26, Charlotte Whitehurst ’26, Hebe Chadwick ’27 and Iris Bergman ’25 finished behind Archer, taking up four more of the top 20 places. Zoe Martonfi ’28 and Daniella Henderson ’27 rounded out Yale’s top seven scoring spots, finishing 24th and 33rd, respectively.

In Wisconsin’s Pre-Nationals meet, Leo Brewer ’25 placed twelfth, followed by Winslow Atkeson ’25 in 24th, securing a personal record. Owen Karas ’26, Varun Oberai ’25 and Kenan Pala ’26 rounded out the scoring places in the top third of the finishers.

“We beat some good teams, and we are excited about that. However, I think everyone on the team feels that we have more to give,” Karas wrote to the News. 

Men’s younger runners also shined at the IC4A Championship hosted by Fordham University. The Bulldogs placed thirteenth out of twenty-four competing teams, significantly improving from last year’s twenty-first place.

Braden King ’26 came in as Yale’s top scorer in twenty-sixth place, followed by Will Sheehy ’26 and Matthew Schutzbank ’28, who both secured personal records in the 8k. Amaré Fields ’27 and Seb Sutch ’28 rounded out the scoring places for Yale. 

The strong performances by both teams stirred excitement as they head into the Championship Season.

“The competition in the Ivy League is elite, and we are excited to leave our mark at the conference championship,” wrote Karas.

The Bulldogs will compete in the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross-Country Championship on Nov. 2 in Princeton, N.J.

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Last year, the men’s team took first place overall at the 2023 Paul Short Run. While the Bulldogs did not defend their position, their performance against the large pool of strong teams still promises success in the coming races. 

The women’s team improved significantly from their performance in previous years, earning their best finish since winning the meet in 2018. 

Both teams fielded athletes in the “gold race” and the “open race.” The gold race allows teams to race their 10 best runners in hopes of scoring points toward the overall team results. Other runners can elect to join the open race, providing individual athletes the opportunity to run without contributing to the team result. 

The men’s gold race included ten Bulldogs. Leo Brewer ’25 was Yale’s top scorer, coming in forty-second at 24:16. Kenan Pala ’26 was right behind Brewer with a personal record of 24:25. Daegan Cutter ’27 and Winslow Atkeson ’25 secured the next two scoring positions in 24:28 and 24:29, respectively. Owen Karas ’26 rounded out the runners contributing to Yale’s team score with a time of 24:37, despite expectations to defend his role as Yale’s top Paul Short Run scorer.

The women’s gold race included nine Bulldogs. Claire Archer ’26 was Yale’s top scorer, coming in thirteenth with a personal record of 20:22. Linde Fonville ’26 followed close behind her with a time of 20:56. Charlotte Whitehurst ’26 rounded out the team’s strongest performances in seventy-fourth place with a time of 21:12. 

The open races included eight runners from the men’s team and three runners from the women’s team. Of these, Ronan Luff ’27 came in with a personal record of 24:50, placing eighteenth. Zoe Martonfi ’28 and Anna Chamberlin ’26 placed in the top 30. 

Harvard showed a strong performance and finished ahead of Yale in both the men’s and women’s gold race. Cornell also beat out the men’s team, while Princeton finished ahead of the women’s team. Yale bested Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth and Penn. 

The Bulldogs will head to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx for the IC4A and ECAC Cross Country Championships on Oct. 18 with a few runners set to compete at the Pre-Nationals Meet on Oct. 19 in Madison, Wisconsin, as well.

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Both teams treated the meet as another shakeout to prepare for the high-stake races at the end of the season, according to team members. 

The women’s team sent eight runners and the men’s team sent five, which was the number of athletes needed to score. Most of the racers debuted at Codfish, having not raced at the season opener earlier in September.  

The course was modified slightly due to construction in the area, so even the returning athletes were presented with a new course this time around. 

This created an issue for the runners directing the pack because along with the course changes, the event did not provide a lead vehicle. 

“We often had to guess which way to go at the crossroad,” Austin Montini ’25 wrote to the News. “Many of us in the lead pack went the wrong way a couple times.”

Montini was Yale’s top scorer in fourth place with a time of 26:03, leading the Bulldogs to their second-place finish. Matthew Schutzbank ’28 debuted his cross country career and crossed the finish line as the Bulldogs second runner up with a time of 26:28. 

“With another two weeks of training, a faster course, and better weather, I hope to set a PR next week at Lehigh,” Montini wrote.

The weather conditions presented another challenge. Schutzbank wrote to the News that he was “running through puddles and hurdling over slipping bodies.” 

This would have rattled most runners, but the Bulldogs put up a fight.

 “Our team showcased a lot of grit and competitive energy,” Montini wrote to the News. 

Owen Karas ’26, top scorer at the Yale-Harvard season opener, highlighted the Bulldogs’ united effort by stepping in for his sick teammate Elon Abergel ’25. 

Montini wrote, “Owen Karas stepped in for Elon, pausing his vacation in Boston to help pace Liam to a PR, allowing the Bulldogs to field a full team and [qualify to] score.”

The men’s team also raced sophomores Jack Diaz and Liam Sullivan. 

Captain Kylie Goldfarb ’25 was Yale’s top scorer for the women’s team, finishing in fifth with a time of 19:02. Behind her, first-years Sylvia Sanok Dufallo ’28 and Zoe Martonfi ’28 placed sixth and seventh, respectively. 

Marina Carlos ‘26, Anna Chamberlin ‘26, Miranda Lorsbach ’26, Priya Gangadharan ’27 and Lily Jin ‘28 also raced and finished within twenty-five seconds of Goldfarb, demonstrating the strong group effort held by Yale. 

“The team is proud of how we competed in such harsh conditions, and this effort has set us up well to show our true potential at Lehigh in two weeks,” Montini wrote to the News. 

The Bulldogs are set to compete at the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University on Oct. 5.

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The women’s team swept the top nine places and secured a significant win of 15-50. The men’s team beat Harvard with a score of 23-36.

The meet marked the rivals’ first head-to-head race since 2019. 

In previous years, the two teams competed against each other and the Princeton Tigers in an annual race known as the HYP — Harvard-Yale-Princeton — meet. Because Princeton hosted the New Jersey Jam race on Friday night, they could not join Harvard and Yale in Attleboro. 

At the 2023 HYP season opener, the Yale women’s team came in last with the top returning scorer, Linde Fonville ’26, placing 10th in a time of 14:00. Harvard’s women, the 2022 and 2023 Ivy League Champions, placed second, beating Yale 36-59.

This weekend, however, the Bulldogs shook Harvard’s confidence by securing the win. Charlotte Whitehurst ’26 won the race with a time of 14:19. Fonville came in third at 14:32.

The men’s team defended their win last year and beat Harvard with a final score of 23-36. Owen Karas ’26 won the event for the second consecutive year with a time of 17:54, setting a new personal record.

Notably, Harvard’s Joe Ewing finished second, with a gap of nine seconds behind Karas. 

“I have had a solid summer of training, so I felt confident going into the race,” Karas wrote to the News. 

Karas said he was proud of his record, and it was “what he set out to do.” 

Harvard and Yale’s men’s teams pulled some of their top scorers and focused on acquainting less experienced runners to a race environment. 

Though the team’s success was substantial and will help to build momentum for the new season, Karas noted that the Bulldogs had an advantage given their number of runners in attendance compared to the Crimson. The Yale men’s team sent 12 runners, whereas Harvard sent six. 

“Harvard sent [fewer] guys than us, which definitely affected their team score. Both programs treat the race as a sort of rust-buster for the season,” Karas wrote.

The opening race underscored the potential of many returning Yale runners. 

However, as previous Ivy Champions, Harvard could potentially have some secret weapons; they sent one new female runner and no new male runners to this opening race, leaving questions about their up-and-coming talent.

Still, the score difference, especially among women, suggests that the Crimson possibly underestimated Yale and can expect a competitive season. 

The Bulldogs will return to Massachusetts for the Codfish Bowl meet on Sept. 21 at Franklin Park, the Ivy League Heptagonal Championship racecourse. 

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Sean Kay ’24, senior captain and team leader throughout the season, led his team to sixth place overall in the NCAA Northeast Regional Cross Country Championships on Friday, Nov. 10. This was the team’s best finish in the meet ever. 

Not only did Kay lead a record-setting team, but his 13th place finish at 29:58.2, just four seconds shy of his collegiate 10K PR, earned him an individual bid to the NCAA National Championships this Saturday, Nov. 8 in Charlottesville, VA.

“This fall, every early morning wake up and late night came to fruition by being able to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country National Championship,” Kay wrote to the News. “If you were to tell me freshman year that I would be competing at NCAA’s, I would’ve told you that you were crazy.  I am forever grateful for God, my teammates and my coach for continually being there for me and pushing me to be the best I can.”

In each region, the top two teams from each of the nine NCAA Regional Championships get automatic bids to the NCAA National Championships, and from there, thirteen more teams are selected for an at-large bid based on their performance at the Regional Championships. Finally, the top four individual placers from non-qualifying teams get individual bids.

In the Northeast Region, Iona University took home first place, followed by Harvard in second. This eliminated seven of the top 12 runners. In addition, Syracuse University earned an at-large bid, removing two more. This put Kay into fourth place of all runners from the remaining field, earning him a bid to Nationals.

Despite impressive finishes in both of the past two NCAA Northeast Regional Championships — he earned 19th last year at the meet with his still-standing 10K PR of 29:54.5 — Kay’s sights weren’t always set on qualifying for NCAA Nationals.

“I was recruited prior to Covid happening really with the goal of just being a varsity scorer by the time I graduated,” Kay wrote to the News. “I wasn’t able to compete my freshman year because of COVID and the Ivy League ruling on athletics, and so this goal would have to wait a little longer. Coming back my sophomore year was my first experience being able to compete at a Division 1 level, and I didn’t have a clear path of what my goals were. I started to really take running and cross country seriously after my sophomore year and during my junior summer, and this proved to be extremely helpful in enabling me to take a jump and help me realize being a national championship qualifier might be possible.” 

Despite an impressive career with the Bulldogs, Kay hopes that what he is remembered for after graduating and leaving Yale men’s cross country is the way in which he was able to positively impact the culture as a team leader. 

When interviewed by the News, Kay’s teammate Owen Karas ’26 — who was Kay’s companion at the front of the Bulldog pack all season — spoke to Kay’s qualities as a leader.

“Sean has always led by example,” Karas wrote to the News. “Throughout the challenges and the doubts of the long season, Sean has remained very consistent in his goals and training. It is great to see his hard work paying off. He inspires us to follow his lead, and he raises the expectations for the program.”

Coach Matt Gutridge expressed similar sentiments.

Gutridge wrote to the News that Kay has done a “tremendous job” as captain. 

“As soon as he was elected by his teammates, he scheduled a meeting with me to talk about ways he felt the program could move forward,” Gutridge wrote. “He has taken the time to meet with his teammates individually and as a group. He led the team to one of the most successful seasons in program history and is our first NCAA qualifier since 2016. The consistency he has demonstrated in training and in his racing along with his self discipline that has allowed him to train at a high level, while also excelling in the classroom, embody the values of the program. The goal is to leave the program better than it was when you arrived and Sean has certainly done that.”

Kay, an economics major from Melrose, MA and a graduate of Arlington Catholic High School, has been a contributing member of the Bulldogs’ XC team during the three years in which he was able to compete. He placed second, first, and first for the Bulldogs at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships during his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons, respectively. He was a model of year-over-year improvement, moving from 55th to 19th to 12th in the Regional Championships each season. His presence on the team will certainly be missed.

Kay expressed gratitude to Yale, his teammates, and his coach for his success on and off the course over the past four years, but most importantly he thanked God and his faith.

“My 4 years at Yale has been an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world,” Kay wrote to the News. “My time at Yale has enabled me to grow not only academically and athletically as a person, but most importantly every success I have had reminds me to grow in my faith as well, which is THE ultimate goal.”

The Championships will take place this Saturday in Charlottesville, VA, featuring all of the nation’s best Division I collegiate runners. 

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The Bulldogs are coming off solid performances at the Ivy League Championships, where the men placed fourth and the women placed sixth. They will head to Van Cortlandt Park, where they raced earlier this season in mid-October at the IC4A and ECAC Championships. The Bulldogs, however, see it as just another step in their season.

“This weekend’s NCAA regionals is just another step in our season – we have prepared for the length of the race since day 1 and so were excited to show our strength and continue the season strong,” men’s team captain Sean Kay ’24 wrote to the News. “Our goal from the beginning of the season has been to be a top 5 team in the region, and we still believe we can do it.”

The top two finishers at the NCAA regionals from each region get an automatic bid to the national championship the following weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, combining for a total of 18 automatic bids across nine regions throughout the country. After that, thirteen teams get an at-large bid as determined by the NCAA D1 Cross Country Subcommittee, resulting in a 31 team field.

In order to qualify for nationals as an individual runner, a racer must be one of the top four runners in their region not belonging to one of the two top teams, and they must also place in the top 25 overall in the meet. Last season, men’s senior captain Sean Kay was not far off, placing 19th — an all-region qualifying finish.

“Individually, Sean Kay is our highest returner finishing 19th a year ago,” men’s head coach Matt Gutridge wrote to the News. “I believe he is capable of putting himself in the top 10 which would give him a chance to be an NCAA individual qualifier. He was our only All-Region performer (top 25) last fall, so we hope to add a couple more this year.”

Last season, the men’s team placed ninth out of 33 teams, while the women’s team took the same spot in a slightly bigger field of 37 teams. Both teams look to improve on their finishes last year.

Gutridge believes his team has the potential to improve, not only upon last year’s finish but also upon the team’s finishes over the last 20 years.

“Similar to HEPS, the goal this weekend is to improve on our finish from last year,” Gutridge wrote to the News. “I believe the larger meet will help us with our strong pack. 7th place is the highest men’s highest finish in the last 20 years for the program, and we believe we can better that on Friday.”

Another aspect of the meet, not to be forgotten, is that this meet could mark the end of many Bulldog cross country careers. For the men’s team, Chris Brown ’24, Thomas Cirrito ’24, Aaron Cullen ’24, Liam Garrett ’24, captain Sean Kay, Stephen Moody ’24, Drake Prince ’24 and Martin Riddell ’24 could be running their last race. For the women’s team, Sophia Karperos ’24, Kyra Pretre ’24, Kathryn Rodrigues ’24 and Hannah Schupansky ’24 could also be doing the same. However, the goal, of course, is to have no career end and have every runner advance to the National Championships.

For Rodrigues, this means an opportunity to both enjoy the sport she loves for potentially one last time at the collegiate level and to represent the University that has given her this opportunity.

“Personally, I’ve been running cross country for half my life, and this Friday could be my last cross country race ever,” Rodrigues wrote to the News. “I am excited to savor the moment with my team and enjoy competing in my favorite sport one last time. Running for Yale has been a dream, and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to rep the Y.”

If either team or any individuals qualify, they will advance to the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 18.

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Both the men’s and women’s teams had strong regular seasons with deep rosters led by upperclassmen and filled out by first years and sophomores. Both teams’ roasters looked similar this past weekend at Heps.

The men’s team finished fourth out of eight teams with all four classes represented among their five placing runners. The women’s team finished sixth, led by senior captain Kyra Pretre ’24 and rounded out by four sophomores, with a first-year runner following close behind as the sixth. Only the top five runners are accounted for in calculating a team’s finish. 

“Heps was the culmination of our Ivy League Season,” men’s team captain Sean Kay ’24 wrote to the News. “Our team thus far has made great strides from where we were a year ago and I’m happy I was able to be a part of it. Every year I have been here we have placed higher in the league, and I can’t wait to see what the team does next year. Although we could have always done better, seeing the progress in a great realization of the work we have put in.”

In the men’s 8k the team was led by two familiar faces at the front of the Bulldog pack, Owen Karas ’26 and Kay. Karas led the Bulldogs with a 24:31 finish, giving him a 15th overall finish, and Kay came in not far behind at 24:38, placing him 18th. 

For Karas, it was a solid improvement on his finish last year at Heps, shaving off 40 seconds and 12 places from his first-year finish. Leo Brewer ’25, Daegan Cutter ’27 and Winslow Atkeson ’25 rounded out the rest of the pack, all finishing within nine seconds of each other. Their respective times were 24:55, 25:02, and 25:04, placing them 23rd, 25th and 26th.

Men’s head coach Matt Gutridge was pleased with his team’s result, explaining that it was one of the team’s best finishes in decades. He also explained that another of the Bulldogs’ typical scorers Varun Oberai ’25 unfortunately lost his shoe early in the race, setting him back.

“Our standing goal is to be in the top half of the league every year, so we accomplished that with our 4th place finish,” Gutridge wrote to the News. “Overall, the group ran well; we lost one of our typical scorers early in the race because Varun’s shoe was stepped on and came off, so the rest of the group stepped up. This was only the 10th time Yale has finished in the top 4 since 1970 and the 4th time since 1997. These guys have been consistent in the way they have performed all year and I believe they will be stronger over the 10k next week.”

In the women’s 6k, the team was led by team captain Kyra Pretre who notched an 18th place finish with a time of 21:41, improving on her junior season finish by a remarkable 39 places and 68 seconds. Marisa Poe ’26 led the rest of the team with a 21:55 25th place finish, followed closely by Linde Fonville ’26 in 26th place with a 21:58 finish. For both runners, these were over 60-second improvements on their first-year finishes. Charlotte Whitehurst ’26 and Claire Archer ’26 rounded off the scoring for the Bulldogs with times of 22:05 and 22:16, respectively, earning them 34th and 39th place. Hebe Chadwick ’27 was the first non-scoring Bulldog to cross the mark, finishing just 17 seconds behind Archer at 22:33, earning her 47th place.

Women’s head coach Taryn Sheehan was pleased with her team’s performance and depth in a hard-earned effort.

“The women did a great job of coming together as a team and executing a solid performance,” Sheehan wrote to the News. “Kyra did a great job of leading the team and had her highest performance at an Ivy League cross country championship. Our spread from 1-5 was 35 seconds which is the best we have had in three years and shows the depth this very young group has worked hard to close. I feel confident that they still have their best performances ahead of them at the Regional Championships next week.”

This year, the men’s and women’s teams look to build on last year’s finishes of fifth place and sixth place, respectively. 

The Bulldogs race next at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships in the Bronx, NY, on Friday, Nov. 10. Their performances in this race will dictate whether they will compete once more at the National Championships in Charlottesville, VA.

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The Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships — or “Heps” — so named because the original competition only included seven Ivy League schools — Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Penn, Cornell, Dartmouth and Columbia — takes place this Saturday, Oct. 28, at Franklin Park in Boston. The Bulldog racers told the News that they are excited for the Championships. 

The Bulldogs told the News that they view this meet as one of their most important meets of the season. In order to gain familiarity with the course, the team typically holds a regular season meet on the same course as the “Heps.” This year, that meet was the Codfish Bowl Invitational, held in late September. 

Kathryn Rodrigues ’24 said that success at the Championships is at least in part viewed as a culmination of all their work throughout the season.

“We spent a productive fall break training together in New Haven and are excited to see all of our hard work from this fall pay off,” Rodrigues wrote to the News. “We have been putting in consistent work and are feeling confident heading into one of the most important weekends of the season. We’ve raced at Franklin Park before and are excited to go back.”

Both teams have enjoyed their fair share of successes this season. The men’s team, in only six meets, has enjoyed two first-place finishes and one second-place finish, with one of these first-place finishes coming in the Paul Short Run, a 43-team meet which Yale had not won since 1989 despite frequent attendance. The women’s team has one second-place finish, as well as a strong fourth out of 15th finish at Pre-Nationals. 

However, both teams told the News they believe that although they are moving in the right direction, neither of them has hit their full stride.

“Pre-Nationals was another step up in competition and a chance to run on the NCAA Championship course,” men’s head coach Matt Gutridge wrote to the News. “Our group did not get out well, which I take responsibility for because we talked about not overrunning the first 2k. What impressed me here is that the team did not get discouraged by the poor start and methodically worked their way through the field. Once again, we were the top Ivy in the meet, so I think that was another positive step heading into this weekend. The reality is that we have not run close to our best race this season.”

This year, the men’s and women’s teams look to build on last year’s finishes of fifth place and sixth place, respectively. 

In head-to-head competitions, Yale’s men’s team has outraced Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn, Harvard and Princeton while only being outraced by fellow Ivies at the IC4A Championships, when the team’s upperclassmen racers were away at Pre-Nationals. The women’s team has had more mixed results against fellow Ivy League rivals, having taken down Brown and Cornell in head-to-head meets.

Women’s head coach Taryn Sheehan said she believes her team has momentum moving forward.

“The result from the women at the Pre-National championship was a step forward for the squad,” Sheehan wrote to the News. “The goal going into the meet was very simple, to improve upon our race execution and our team chemistry during the race. We had an incredible 4-second spread from our 2-4 runners, with Linde Fonville, Charlotte Whitehurst, and Hebe Chadwick. We’re really excited to use this momentum and see what we can do this Saturday at Heps.”

Following the Ivies, Yale will compete next at the NCAA Cross Country Northeast Regional, and, if either team or any individuals qualify, the NCAA Championships.

For now, though, the team’s sights are set on this weekend.

“The Ivy League Championships are always a battle and many of the teams are improved from a year ago,” Gutridge wrote to the News. “We feel confident that we will improve on our finish from a year ago and the group is focused on taking another step forward.”

The NCAA Northeast Regionals will be held in the Bronx on Friday, Nov. 10, and the Championships on Saturday, Nov. 18.

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The Bulldogs took this past weekend off as they head into their second month of the season. They kick it back into gear this weekend as they split their squads into two groups: one competing at a meet held at the University of Virginia and the other competing in the IC4A/ECAC Championships in the Bronx, New York. Both meets are held on courses that the Bulldogs will see later on in the postseason.

“We are actually a split squad this weekend, with half the team racing at ECAC/IC4S and the other half of the team traveling to the University of Virginia for the pre-national championship course preview,” women’s head coach Taryn Sheehan explained to the News. “The group running at ECAC will have a great opportunity to preview what will actually be the same course we will run at for the Northeast regional championship. The athletes racing in Virginia will have an opportunity to see some teams from outside of our region on a national scale.”

At the meet in Charlottesville, Virginia, featuring the same course as the NCAA Championships and formally called the “XC23 (Pre National) Invitational,” many recognizable names from around the country will be present. The women’s lineup features 42 teams from all over the country. Teams from all five “power conferences” will be there, as well as Ivy League rivals Cornell and Dartmouth. The men’s lineup stacks up similarly, albeit with only 39 teams.

Last season, neither the men’s nor women’s team sent runners to Nationals. Men’s team captain Sean Kay ’24 led the charge last season for the Bulldogs as a junior at the NCAA regional meet, placing 19th, and Claire Archer ’26 placed 30th in the women’s stampede as a first year. Across the nine NCAA regions, 38 total runners get an “at large” bid to the National Championship as well as the top two teams from each region. When asked about how his team’s attitude is shifting as the postseason approaches, Kay said his team is not focused on it.

“We have some younger guys heading to IC4A championships this week and they’re really excited about going against some Ivy League Rivals,” Kay wrote to the News. “Our attitude hasn’t shifted too much from the start of the season, [and] we’ve done a great job of sticking to the routine and taking each day at a time. Our approach to races is the same way. It’s an opportunity to show the league the work we have been consistently doing since the summer.”

While the more experienced runners will get a preview of the national championship course, the rest of the squad will head to the Bronx borough of New York City, home of the ECAC and IC4A Cross Country Championships. As Kay mentioned, this meet attracts many Ivy League Rivals — last year, it featured five of the eight — so it will be a good opportunity for the team to gauge its competition for the Ivy League Championships, or “Heps,” short for Heptagonals, that are coming down the pipe at the end of this month.

When asked about how the women’s squad’s attitudes are shifting as the season progresses, Kathryn Rodrigues ’24 said her team is ready to show off their hard work.

“The team has shown great depth at the past few races and we are continuing to improve as a group each week,” Rodrigues wrote to the News. “With Ivies approaching, we are getting more and more excited to show all the hard work we have been putting in.”

After this weekend, the Bulldogs will have one more meet on Oct. 20, at Central Connecticut State University before Ivies on Oct. 28.

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