The Emory men’s and women’s cross country teams closed out their 2015 seasons on Saturday by competing at the NCAA D-III Championships.  The meet was held at the Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne, Wisconsin with UW-Oshkosh serving as the host institution.

The women’s side entered the race ranked 21^st nationally and that is where they ended up at nationals out of 32 teams, totaling 512 points.  Taking home the team title was Williams with 81 points while Geneso State was runner-up with 179 points.  Rounding out the top five were MIT (182 pts.), Johns Hopkins (188 pts.) and Washington University (193 pts.).  For the eighth time in as many outings this year, senior Elise Viox ranked as the Eagles’ top performer, clocking a personal-best 6K time of 22:01 that ranked 58^th (37th scoring position) out of 280 entries.  Senior Aileen Rivell came through with a personal-best effort as well, posting a 22:23 that paced 106^th (72nd scorer) in the field.  Freshman Clare Ubersax was the No. 3 Emory athlete to cross the finish line, recording a season-best 22:46 that slotted her in the No. 165 position overall (117th scorer).  Junior Sophie Cemaj tied her career-best mark of 22:49 (176^th/128th place) while junior Mia Eisenhandler (23:04) rounded out the team’s scorers (211/158).  Also competing were sophomore Hanna Saadegh-Vaziri (23:05, 212/159) and sophomore Gabrielle Stravach (23:18, 239/183).   Winning the women’s competition was Abrah Masterson of Cornell College with a time of 21:23.  Olivia Mancl of Williamette was second at 21:54.

The men’s squad posted a 29^th-place effort with 761 points.  UW-Eau Claire won the team crown with 135 points with Williams was second with a total of 144 points.  Rounding out the top five were Geneso State (209 pts.), St. Olaf (211 pts.) and North Central (254 pts.).  Senior Lukas Mees was the team’s No. 1 runner for the eighth time this year, turning in an 8K time of 25:26 that ranked 81^st overall (#62 scoring position) out of 278 competitors.  Junior Michael Sisario was the next Emory finisher with his 25:58 placing him 184^th overall (137th scoring spot).  Junior Michael McBane finished with an effort of 26:02 (222/168) while juniors Austin Hunt (26:25, 243/188) and Grant Murphy (26:50, 262) rounded out the team’s scorers.  Also competing were freshman Bennett Shaw (26:51) and sophomore Max Brown (27:34).  Ian LaMare of UW-Platteville breezed to a first-place finish in a time of 23:35 with Josh Thorson of UW-Platteville second in a time of 24:15.