HOPKINTON, N.H. – The Brandeis University men's cross country team improved by one spot over its 2022 finish today with a 10-place finish at the 2023 NCAA East Regional Championship today at the Hopkinton Fair Grounds in New Hampshire.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Judges scored 342 points today, a 25-point improvement over last year. They finished 63 points behind Babson and 20 ahead of UMass Dartmouth in the standings. Overall, 34 teams and 229 competitors ran in the race.
• Brandeis's top performer was sophomore TJ Carleo (Newburyport, Mass./Newburyport), who finished 40^th overall with a time over eight kilometers of 26:05. Carleo was 62^nd at last year's regional championships, taking 1:25 off his time from 2022, when he was the team's second runner. He shaved 35 seconds of his previous 8K personal best.
• Junior Lucas Dia (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) continued his season as the Judges' second runner, finishing 62^nd with a time of 26:36.02. He was nearly 20 seconds faster than in 2022 at Regionals, but finished 20 spots lower down in the overall rankings.
• Senior Henry Nguyen (Worcester, Mass. / Worcester Vocational Tech) had his best regional performance, finishing close behind Dia in 68^th place with a time of 26:40.8, the team's second p.r. on the day. Nguyen, the team's fifth finisher a year ago placed 99^th last year, a 31-spot improvement. He also ran more than two minutes faster than in 2022.
• Junior Dashiell Janicki (New York, N.Y./HS for Math Science and Engineering at City College), the team's third finisher last year, was fourth in 2023, placing 82^nd with a time of 26:54.22. It marked his first career time under 27 minutes over eight kilometers.
• Rounding out the top five scorers was senior Willem Goff (Pelham, Mass./Amherst Regional). Goff, who finished sixth on the squad last year, placed 90^th with a time of 27:15.01. He missed his p.r. by 18 seconds, but improved his regionals finish by 15 places.
• The Judges owned  a 1:10 spread between their top five runners.
• Sophomore Rob King (Clarksville, Md./River Hill) and rookie Hugh Licklider (Newton, Mass./BC High) rounded out the Brandeis runners in 110^th and 111^th places with times of 27:51.73 and 27:55.48.
• Across their seven finishers, the Judges had an average mile of 5:23.
• The Judges will return to action in January for track and field season, starting on the 13^th with the annual Reggie Poyau Classic.