LANCASTER, PA – For the third time this season, Johns Hopkins Cross Country has swept the Centennial Conference's weekly honors, with senior
Emmanuel Leblond and sophomore
Carter Brotherton earning Athlete of the Week accolades. This marks Leblond's third conference recognition of the season and the second recognition for Brotherton as the Blue Jays concluded their regular season Saturday.
Both runners stood out in the highly competitive Blue Races at the Connecticut College Invitational, which featured some of the nation's best.
Leblond delivered another standout performance at the Conn. College Invitational, capturing the individual title in a field of 269 runners. It marked his fifth consecutive regular-season race as the top Division III finisher.
In a stacked 34-team Blue Race, the Blue Jays claimed the team title with 96 points, edging out 11 nationally-ranked opponents — including four top-10 teams: No. 4 NYU, No. 7 SUNY Geneseo, No. 8 Williams and No. 9 Tufts.
Leblond crossed the line first, finishing more than 11 seconds ahead of runner-up Ryan Hagan of SUNY Geneseo. In the process, he broke the meet record previously held by Williams' Elias Lindgren, clocking in at 23:41.94—one second faster than the previous mark.
Brotherton also delivered another standout performance at the Conn. College Invitational, placing fourth overall in a field of 271 runners.
In a stacked 33-team Blue Race that featured 16 nationally-ranked teams, the Blue Jays claimed third with 113 points, finishing behind only the meet champion, second-ranked Williams (73 pts) and fifth-ranked MIT (97 pts).
She crossed the line in 20:57.8, finishing just over three seconds ahead of the fifth-place finisher. Prior to this year, only five runners in the history of the women's 6K at this meet had broken the 21-minute barrier—but the top four accomplished the feat.
The Blue Jays return to action on Saturday, November 1, at the Centennial Conference Championships as the men look to defend their title and capture a fourth-straight team championship, while the women look to defend their title and capture a 17th-straight team championship.
