Both the men's and women's cross country teams performed exceptionally well this past weekend at the NCAA New England Regional Qualifiers held in Cumberland, Maine. The event was hosted by the University of Southern Maine at the Twin Brook Recreational Center, and featured 323 participants on the men's side and 315 on the women's side.

The Colby women were led by Katrina Gravel '10 and Cassi Knight '10, who finished ninth and thirteenth respectively in the six-kilometer race. Gravel clocked in with a time of 22:05.5, with Knight nipping at her heels with a time of 22:10.5. Knight's time was particularly notable, given that she has missed the bulk of the season due to injury and is still just rounding into top running form. The Mules were also buoyed by the efforts of Emma Linhard '11, Mandy Ivey '10, Layne Schwab '13, Berol Dewdney '13 and Greta Wells '11, who all finished in the top 100 and whose combined times helped the Mules finish seventh overall in the field of 47 teams. Colby also finished a solid fifth among the field of New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) schools. Gravel and Knight will run in the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday, November 21.

For the men, Mike Bienkowski '10 was the top finisher with a time of 27:28.2, averaging 5:31 minutes per mile, on the eight-kilometer course, which is just under five miles, good for 108th overall. Other top finishers for the Mules included Luke Doherty Munro '13 (28:09.8), Justin Rouse '12 (28:17.6), Chris Halladay '12 (28.26.0), Brian Desmond '13 (28:38.1), Jeremy Judge '10 (29:15.6) and Tom Letourneau '13 (29:22.6). The team's effort on the course secured the men a respectable 25th place finishout of 48 participating schools.

Though the season has come to a close for most of the men's and women's athletes, they have many successes to draw from heading into the offseason. This season, the returning runners proved themselves, while the younger members of the team were not far behind.