Butler Qualifies for Nationals, Cross Country Competes at NCAA Regional

Friday, November 15

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Brown University

NCAA Northeast Regional

Butler Qualifies for Nationals, Cross Country Competes at NCAA Regional

11/15/2019 3:39:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Men's Results Women's Results

Hannah Butler takes third overall to qualify for NCAA Championships

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Junior Hannah Butler (Dewitt, N.Y.) finished third overall to punch her ticket to the NCAA Championship as the Brown men's and women's cross country teams competed at the NCAA Northeast Regional Friday in Buffalo, New York.

The women's team finished 16th out of 37 entries with 423 points and the men's side placed 10th out of 37 squads with 320 points. The races were moved from the Audubon Golf Course to a road course after several inches of snow fell in the area earlier in the week.

"Hannah's performance was just tremendous," said head coach Tim Springfield. "She showed a lot of poise getting herself into the right position early, and then she was fearless in the middle of the race to move into the lead group. That was new territory for her, but she didn't hesitate and showed the courage to move to the front."

Butler continued her standout campaign as she placed third overall out of 268 total runners to earn a spot in the NCAA Championship as an automatic qualifier. The junior navigated the 6-kilometer road course in a time of 19:33.4, moving up two spots in the final mile to claim bronze, as she secured All-Region honors as a top-25 finisher.

Butler was ninth overall at the Ivy League Championship two weeks ago for Second Team All-Ivy honors and is the first Bear to qualify for the NCAA Championship since Natalie Schudrowitz in 2015.

Ally Hajda (Atlantic Beach, Fla.) and Chloe Conway (Manchester, N.H.) followed at 63rd and 70th overall, respectively, in times of 2:56.6 and 21:00.5. From there, Samantha Valentine (Middleton, Wis.) crossed 13 spots later at 21:11.6, before Mary Bibbey (Woodbury, Conn.) finished at 23:00.0 to round out the scorers.

The men's team was fourth among Ivy schools at the regional, passing both Yale and Columbia, after the Bears finished behind both squads at Ivy Heps.

"The men bounced back nicely from a disappointing result at Heps, and it was gratifying to see us beat some of the Ivy League teams that got us two weeks ago," said Springfield. "Cam was great leading the team, as he has been all year, and put himself in position to qualify for nationals but came up just short. I don't think moving the course to roads did us any favors, but the team had strong efforts from top to bottom."

Senior Cameron Daly (Meredith, N.H.) led the men's team with a 19th-place finish to secure a top-25 spot and earn All-Region accolades for the second-straight year, as he finished the 10-kilometer road course at 29:19.5. Junior Dominic Morganti (Syracuse, N.Y.) used a late surge to move up 12 spots in the final stretch of the race and placed 33 at 29:41.9.

Juniors Ben McCoy (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Hughes Benjamin (New Orleans, La.) finished 82nd and 91st overall at 30:25.4 and 30:22.0, respectively, before David Scherrer (Virginia Beach, Va.) took 95th at 30:36.4 to complete the scorers.

Butler will head to Indiana next Saturday (11/23) to compete at the NCAA Championships.

Brown at NCAA Regional
Men (10K)
19.       Cameron Daly (29:19.5)
33.       Dominic Morganti (29:41.9)
82.       Ben McCoy (30:25.4)
91.       Hughes Benjamin (30:32.0)
95.       David Scherrer (30:36.4)
115.     Jared Yabu (30:55.8)
151.     Griffin McCauley (31:30.2)

Women (6K)
3.         Hannah Butler (19:33.4)
63.       Allison Hajda (20:56.6)
70.       Chloe Conway (21:00.5)
83.       Samantha Valentine (21:11.6)
203.     Mary Bibbey (23:00.3)
212.     Sarah Reichheld (23:06.6)