Women’s XC National Champions, Men’s XC Finishes 13th, Volleyball Upset at Regionals
Photo Courtesy of Natalie Green
A lot has happened in the world of MIT Athletics since the last issue of The Tech three weeks ago. The fall athletic season is over, and the winter athletic season has begun. Before we turn the page to focus on our winter sports teams, we should look back on how our fall teams finished their 2024 seasons.
Women’s Cross Country wins NCAA Division III National Championship
On Nov 23, Women’s Cross Country took home the program’s first National Championship at the NCAA Division III Championships meet in Terre Haute, Indiana. Led by All-American performances from Christina Crow ’25, Rujuta Sane ’26, and Kate Sanderson ’26, MIT posted a field-best 128 points in the 6K race.
MIT was in close competition with the University of Chicago throughout the race, holding the lead through the 4K mark. Despite trailing at the 5K mark, the team rallied to best Chicago by 10 points.
The members of the championship team finished as follows:
16th – Kate Sanderson ’26 (21:26.2)
19th – Rujuta Sane ’26 (21:29.9)
35th – Christina Crow ’25 (21:43.6)
47th – Liv Girand ’27 (21:54.2)
51st – Lexi Fernandez ’26 (21:57.6)
54th – Heather Jensen ’27 (21:58.2) – not scored
55th – Gillian Roeder ’25 (21:59.6) – not scored
Men’s Cross Country finishes 13th at NCAA Division III Championships
On the same day, Men’s Cross Country competed at the NCAA Division III National Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana. Led by an All-American effort by Sam Coutts ’25, the team finished 13th overall, posting a score of 322 in the 8K race.
During the race, MIT moved between 11th and 15th place, eventually finding a pace at the 5K mark that would hold them to the 13th spot.
The members of the competing team finished as follows:
21th – Sam Coutts ’25 (24:32.6)
77th – Jacob Cobb ’26 (25:02.4)
78th – Pablo Arroyo ’25 (25:02.7)
101th – Samir Amin ’25 (25:12.7)
130th – Yichen Sun ’27 (25:22.8)
201th – Tim Neumann ’27 (25:47.6) – not scored
212th – Renne Cooper ’28 (25:51.5) – not scored
No. 4 Volleyball Falls to No. 13 La Verne; Eliminated in NCAA Regionals Final
On Nov. 23, Women’s Volleyball saw their dominant season come to an end as they were upset by the University of La Verne, 0-3.
Losing their first set 13-25, MIT mounted a strong second frame to attempt to tie up the game. Led by Ali Gibbs ’26 and Eileen Sadati ’27, MIT established multiple leads but could not hold them as La Verne rallied to keep the set even. With a series of late point exchanges, MIT ultimately dropped the second set 26-28.
MIT jumped out to an early 10-6 lead in the third set, but La Verne responded quickly, going up 14-12. Once they had the lead, La Verne never turned back. They maintained their advantage throughout the set in spite of MIT’s best efforts, and put the Engineers away 25-21, securing their spot in the NCAA D-III Quarterfinals.
