Competing against colleges from all around New England, the Harvard men's and women's cross-country teams ran their best races of the season to finish 6th overall for the men and 4th for the women in the New England Championships at Franklin Park on Friday.

Runners from Division I, II and III schools competed in this regional tournament, which drew 250 contestants for the women's race and 290 for the men's.

Many runners on the Harvard women's team ran in a fast pack and managed to finish with personal record times. Senior Bethany Helms recorded the fastest time for the Crimson, 18:00, a personal best and finished 11th overall for the five-kilometer race.

Junior Mary Unsworth (18:13) and sophomore Leann Hymas (18:14) respectively finished second and third for Harvard and 23rd and 24th overall. Freshmen Deirdre Colgan (18:43) made a respectable first-year debut placing 5th for Harvard and 59th overall.

The men's team ran a strong race as well. Senior Dave Martin (24:44) and junior captain Ed Baker (24:47) placed first and second for Harvard respectively and 11th and 13th in the race overall. Freshman Nathan Shenk-Borig (25:27) had an impressive race by clocking his best college time so far and running third best among the Crimson, 46th overall.

Harvard Women

From the beginning of the race, Harvard ran according to its game plan. All week the team had been practicing running in packs and keeping up a good pace for the whole event. The work paid off as Harvard had its best performance of the season so far.

"The women ran much closer together in this race," Harvard Coach Frank Haggerty said. "I think they realized that it was time to do something really big, and they did, and now they know they can do it."