Roth Shines At NEWMAC Championships, Cougars Ninth

Dorchester, Mass. – Clark University junior Erika Roth (Saco, Maine) turned in the program’s first top 30 performance in five years as the Cougars finished in ninth place at the 2011 New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship on Monday afternoon at famed Franklin Park.

MIT won its fifth consecutive conference title, outdistancing the 10-team field, recording 22 points and taking up 10 of the 14 all-conference spots.

Runner-Up Wellesley totaled 50 points with two on the All-Conference team, while Coast Guard took third with 102 points and one All-Conference performer. Smith took fourth overall with 142 points, followed by Springfield in fifth with 163 and Babson in sixth with 168. Mount Holyoke (192), WPI (196), Clark (215) and Wheaton (243) rounded out the team finishes.

Individually, Wellesley's Randelle Boots (Seekonk, Mass.) earned NEWMAC Runner of the Year honors for the second consecutive season, wrapping up the 5K course in 18:45. MIT junior Brooke Johnson (Shoreham, N.Y.) took runner-up honors in 18:50, while MIT's Elaine McVay (San Ramon, Calif.) earned NEWMAC Rookie of the Year honors with a time of 18:52 and a third place finish.

For Clark, Roth’s 26th place finish paced the Cougar contingent in a time of 20:20 – the fastest time by a Clark women’s runner since Emily Tremaine turned in a sixth place finish in 2007 with a time of 19:48.

Graduate student Heather Goodale (Middletown, Conn.) had her best performance ever at the conference championship, completing the course in 20:55, good for 34th place. Back in 2007 as a freshman she was 118th then moved to 64th as a junior and 53rd as a senior in 2010.

The next three runners for Clark came in a pack led by Isabel Burgess (Cumberland Foreside, Maine) in 52nd place (21:23). The next two – a pair of freshmen in Marlena Springstubb (Oceanside, N.Y.) and Maya Grevatt (Charlotte, Vt.) were one second apart in 54th and 55th place with times of 21:26 and 21:27, respectively.

Clark will run in the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional in Brunswick, Maine on Saturday, November 12.

2011 NEWMAC Women’s Cross Country All-Conference
Randelle Boots, Wellesley
Brooke Johnson, MIT
Elaine McVay, MIT
Claire O'Connell, MIT
Leah Clement, Wellesley
Martina de Geus, MIT
Dacie Manion, MIT
Beth Gollin, Coast Guard
Stephanie Marzen, MIT
Tania Morimoto, MIT
Sarah Sprague, MIT
Shivani Kaushal, MIT
Maggie Lloyd, MIT
Caroline Kimball-Katz, Smith

2011 NEWMAC Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year
Randelle Boots, Wellesley

2011 NEWMAC Men’s Cross Country Rookie of the Year
Elaine McVay, MIT