Emerson’s men’s and women’s cross country teams are looking to finish their season with a bang.

Coach Brandon Fox is entering his second season as Head Coach of both the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Teams. Fox has been a member of the Emerson Cross Country Program since the fall of 2008 as a runner. After serving as assistant coach since 2012, Fox was named Interim Head Coach at the start of 2019, then was named the Head Coach in the fall 2019. 

The season has been tough but members of both teams touched on the resilience and of the teams to finish strong. 

“The region is extremely tough,” said Fox. “We have a few conferences and regionals left so our hope is to finish up strong and then regroup for next year.”

Samantha Zannotti, junior, and captain of the Women’s Cross Country Team, named the race at St. Joseph’s College of Maine as one of the highlights of this year. 

“We had three girls place in the top five and four in the top ten while also winning as a team,” Zanotti said. “This was our first team win in a long time, so it felt good to know that everyone contributed.” 

Zannotti, also on Emerson’s softball team, highlighted the achievements of one of her teammates, sophomore Yasmin Defne Dadikhi. 

“She set the school record in her first 6K this year at 23:33,” Zanotti said. “She also won the race at St. Joe’s. She has a great work ethic and could possibly qualify for nationals in a few weeks.” 

Most recently, Dadikhi earned a NEWMAC all-conference nod at the NEWMAC championship on Oct. 28 hosted by Smith College. She finished the 6K in 24:16.

Additionally, the men’s cross country team finished 7th in NEWMAC Championships with 200 points.

Freshman Bryan Hecht is also looking forward to next year and being even more adjusted to racing in college. 

“I am looking forward to next year because getting adjusted to the 8K race from the 5K that we ran in high school has taken a while and it will be nice to be more comfortable with the distance next year,” said Hecht. 

Hecht also touched upon the intensity of running cross country and the importance of being grounded and having grit in order to succeed. 

“Cross country really is the best sport in my opinion because it all comes down to grit…The person willing to endure the most pain will come out ahead and in many cases, grit can overcome natural athletic ability,” said Hecht.

A big congratulations to both teams on their season! The Emerson community is looking forward to next year.