November is Championship Month for Several MIT Squads

Cambridge, Mass. – Several teams representing MIT athletics had impressive showings at their respective Championship tournaments during the month of November.

Both the men and women cross country teams are headed to Waverly, Iowa for this Saturday’s NCAA Division III National Championships. After each squad captured the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) crown, the men were victorious at the New England Regional Championships , hosted by Williams College. Paul Welle placed sixth overall for Tech, who had two other runners in the top 12 of the meet.

The women punched their ticket to Iowa thanks to an eight large bid, and will head to Nationals on the legs of a fourth place finish in Williamstown. Tania Morimoto and Alina Gatowski placed eighth and ninth, respectively to pace the Engineers, who are currently ranked 7th in the nation. This is the first time in school history that both the men and women have qualified as a team for the National Championships.

After winning the Division III Eastern Championships at Connecticut College at the end of December, the MIT water polo team came home to host the Northern Division Championship, where they came into the tournament as the 3rd ranked team. Despite falling to Fordham in the third place match, the Engineers still earned a berth into the College Water Polo Association Eastern Championships, held Friday, November 19th to Sunday, November 21st at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. The Engineers are again the fourth seed in the tournament and will play top seeded Princeton at 11:30 AM on Friday. Each team is guaranteed a game each day, so Tech will be fighting for position in the pool all weekend.

Finally, the MIT coed sailing team ended a very successful fall season by placing 13th at the 2010 Atlantic Coast dinghy championships, hosted by the Naval Academy. The Engineers were one of 18 teams from up and down the East Coast who had qualified for the championship weekend thanks to previous finishes, including a seventh place finish at last month's Erwin Schell Trophy.

Congratulations to all of the MIT fall teams and good luck to those still competing and the winter sports that are about to kick off their campaigns.

More Coverage on the Fall Championships at MIT Fall Championship Central.