East Region Preview

After the realignment to a 10-school system, the East Region will be made up of 46 schools out of Maine, New Hampshire, and eastern Massachusetts. Suffolk University will act as host to the legendary Franklin Park in Boston, MA. Franklin Park is regarded as one of the more challenging venues in the Northeast with the infamous Bear Cage Hill featured twice on the eight-kilometer course for men and six-kilometer course for women. 

Runners will take the first flat loop around White Stadium before completing another loop and charging up the windy Bear Cage Hill. Then, the best of the East will traverse the baseball and soccer fields, met by wild fans. After the roaring crowd the shift to silence happens almost immediately as runners enter the Wilderness loop. Most will think they are keeping pace, but the Wilderness loop will slow you down without notice. Once exiting the loop, the women will cut through the baseball fields before trekking back up Bear Cage at the three mile mark and finishing across the baseball and soccer fields. For the men, they will do another loop around the baseball and soccer fields before reentering the Wilderness Loop and finishing as the women did. 

Men’s Championship

In the men’s race, eyes will undoubtedly be on Colby’s Tyler Morris and Suffolk’s Matyas Csiki-Fejer. Suffolk’s Csiki-Fejer is coming off a season for the books, recording a 23:36 victory at UMass Dartmouth and then a 24:15 performance at SUNY Geneseo. Following Csiki-Fejer’s impressive performances, Morris met Csiki-Fejer at the line of the Suffolk Invite. Morris came out on top and now he is coming off a commanding victory from a loaded NESCAC conference, featuring six nationally ranked teams. The 24:28 win at Wickham Park left a 37 second gap between Morris and his closest foe. 

It’s clear that the MIT men are riding high off their lopsided victory at the NEWMAC Championship meet: 15 of the top 20 men were part of the #4 nationally ranked team, MIT. They are the favorites to win despite Colby’s squad of Tyler Morris and co. consistently appearing in regional and national rankings. However, Bates and Tufts could give Colby a run for their money. MIT will make Nationals, but subsequent spots could open up (bids occur the day after). Bates will lean on seniors Jackson Donahue and Bart Rust to challenge Colby, but Tufts has an upcoming star in Walter Wagude who has shown consistent grit. Will Tufts sneak into the top two?

All things considered, the East could send three teams to Nationals and maybe a fourth. Although most of the top 50 individuals come from the aforementioned teams, sprinkled in are multiple candidates for individual bids. Wheaton senior Dominic Sclafani, James Cannon from UMass Boston, and Anthony Rodriguez from Babson could make legitimate bids if the East sends more than two teams to Louisville.  

Predictions:

Men’s Team Champ: MIT

Men’s Individual Champ: Tyler Morris, Colby

Women’s Championship

Danielle Page, Izzi Gengaro, Ari Marks. It’s really hard to bet against any of them. Page has an almost unbeaten season, won NESCACs, and was runner-up at Regionals last year. Gengaro placed runner-up at NEWMACs and is the reigning Regional champ. Marks has had a breakout season in 2021, winning NEWMACS and going undefeated. An advantage comes with Page and Marks both having raced at Franklin Park this year, but Gengaro certainly doesn’t lack experience in big meets and she will want to avenge her second place finish at NEWMACs. Expect Olivia Rosenstein from MIT and Meghan Davis from Tufts to also be in the mix. 

Since switching to a 10-region system, Williams, the reigning champs, will not be participating in the East Regionals. Nor will Wesleyan, Mount Holyoke, or Amherst, all top 10 programs from 2019. In effect, this will open up the field for teams like Bates to make a bid to the big dance. 

Ultimately, there are a handful of Tufts, MIT, Bates, and Brandeis women that should finish in the top 20, but the team battle should truly come down to Tufts vs. MIT. In a race with over 300 women and no clear team on top, a low stick will be far from enough to make Nationals. We’ll be looking to see how many on each team can crack the top 20. If a team like Bates or Brandeis can sneak up on the favorites, we may see three or even four teams from the East make the trip down to Louisville for Nationals. 

Women’s Team Champ: Tufts

Women’s Individual Champ: Ari Marks, Wellesley