The women have battled the injury bug for the 2nd half of the season, and this week would prove to be no different. Already battling a nagging injury to one of the top girls, we were forced to go with an alternate runner moments before the start of the race due one of the girls problems with her back. For the first half of the race, things went as had been planned. Carter and Shauneen were in the front pack of 5-6 runners looking strong, Kim Partee was running her race according to plan, and then the 4-7 group of Ginger Polich, Laura Mortimer, Katie Moravec and Alison Rodriguez were running together behind the group of Middlebury and Williams runners. Unfortunately the 2nd half of the race did not unfold as would have hoped, and we were fortunate to be able to hold onto one of the final qualifying spots with our 4th place finish, a mere 3 points from 5th and 10 points from not making the trip. Carter and Shauneen finished 5th and 6th despite losing touch with the lead group in the middle of the race and then never making a move to close back into it. Kim raced with a great deal of heart as she was able to earn All-New England honors with her 33rd place finish despite the injury to her knee that has been affecting her running for the last week or so. Ginger, Laura and Katie all managed to run under 24 minutes but had tourble responding to the moves of runners from key teams in the last half of the race, while Alison rounded out the varsity seven with her unexpected run. While other teams really stepped up and laid it on the line, no one from Amherst seemed to race spectacularly, but with a couple of people willing to do that this weekend in Wisconsin at Nationals, then who knows what might happen? Other teams have been putting together great races, while we have been running decently and this could be like a time bomb, just waiting for the right moment to explode!

The women got some great races from those who were wrapping up the season, with a few girls dropping over a minute from their 6k times on the same course from a few weeks ago. Katie Moravec and Laura Mortimer each earned All-ECAC honors by virtue of their Top 15 finishes, as each broke 24 minutes for the tough 6k course. Margaret Davis, rounding into form from her mid-season back injury, had a tremendous second half and nearly broke into the Top 20. Alison Rodriguez most likely finished her Amherst XC career with a huge race as she knocked off nearly 2 minutes from her 6k time from earlier this season and over a minute from her lifetime PR. Meg Ray and Lucy Sheehan both had their season's capped with outstanding runs as Meg finished 5th for the team to close out the scoring, while Lucy lowered her time from earlier in the season by well over a minute. The women will head to the District race in Maine this weekend looking to secure a berth at the NCAA's with a Top 5 finish. They will need to close up the gap between themselves and perennial powers Williams and Middlebury.

The women had a great opportunity to see where they stand on the National scene as  3 of the top 5 ranked teams in the country were in the race (Williams, us and Middlebury) along with three other teams who are ranked in the Top 25. When the dust had settled, it was Williams and Middlebury tying for the title, with Amherst comfortably in 3rd. The depth of both of those teams was painfully obvious as we matched up well through the top three runners, but both teams put their top 7 runners in front of our scoring runners to earn the victory. With the district meet two weeks away, the goal will be to see who is willing to step up and fill those gaps and try and reverse the order at both the district meet, and then at the Nationals. Carter Hamill finished 3rd to earn her 4th consecutive First Team NESCAC finish, and Shauneen Garrahan earned her 2nd in a row as she would finish 5th. Kim Partee, despite spending the week cross training,  earned 2nd Team NESCAC with her 14th place run and also earned the Rookie of the Year for the Conference, as she was the highest placing first year runner. Ginger Polich had another solid race as she finished 4th for the team, and first years Katie Moravec and Laura Mortimer would finish 5th and 6th for the team, while Alison Rodriguez grabbed a varsity finish for the first time this season as she had a strong showing on the hilly course. Margaret Davis, returning from a back injury, raced for the first time in over a month, and while a little race rusty, will build on this race and be back at full strength shortly. Lucy Sheehan had another great race, as she has definitely been taking advantage of the training and has lowered her season best times in consecutive weekends and will look to crack the 20 minute barrier this weekend at ECAC's.

The women were looking forward to the showdown of National Powers (Williams 1, Amherst 3 and Wesleyan 16) in the latest NCAA Polls. Carter Hamill and Shauneen Garrahan broke away with the front pack of a Williams and Wesleyan runner, and after the dust had settled, Carter broke in the race with an Amherst victory while Shauneen grabbed 4th. Kim Partee had another strong race to grab 3rd for the team and finish 8th overall. Ginger Polich finished 13th, and then Katie Moravec closed out the scoring with her 17th place finish. Returning from injuries were Laura Mortimer and Heather WIlson in the 6th and 7th spots for the team, and should be even bigger factors next weekend. Alison Rodriguez, despite a week of sleep deprivation in preparation for her comps, raced a great race. Lucy Sheehan ran to her fastest time of the year, as she broke 21  for the first time and was followed closely by Meg Ray. Mattea Kramer had a great race, as did Julie Kim, and Liz Petrik, despite a nagging hip injury that has plagued her for the last couple of weeks raced bravely to finish her season. With the conference meet coming up this weekend, the team should be back to full strength with the return of Margaret Davis and will look to the 4-9 runners to close the gap up to the front three in hopes of challenging for their first ever conference win.

The women, without the services of 4 of the Top 7 scorers from our last meet, had some holes to fill and it proved to be a little too much. Knowing that we were not going to be at full strength nor be the force that the team has the potential to be, the hope was that those racing would be able to step up their racing to offset the losses of the other scorers. Shauneen Garrahan led the team with a 15th place finish, while Kim Partee would grab 32nd overall. Ginger Polich finished 3rd for the team, and had company from Katie Moravec who dipped under 20 minutes. Heather Wilson and Alison Rodriguez closed out the scoring for the team. IN the JV race, Meg Ray had a strong race to lead the team, as she inches closer to breaking the 20 minute mark. Julie Kim, still being nagged by a lingering IT band problem, raced well and had a great second half of the race to finish 2nd for the team, with Lucy Sheehan and Mattea Kramer coming in shortly after. Liz Petrick rounded out the scoring  for the team, despite a painful hip injury.

The men racing without top runner Matt Katz, and missing several other key runners due to nagging injuries (Schreiner, Freese) posted a solid team finish. Dave Molina put himself in the Top 10 for the majority of the race before succumbing to heat and exhaustion in the waning meters of the race and crawling in at 22nd. First year Tomas Morrissey continues to improve and impress as he led the team with his 11th place finish, as he moved up throughout the entire race. Rich Wilson rebounded from a tough race this past weekend to finish 3d for the team and earn the Flash shirt. John Babbott and Evan Guiney - with a great race for him - would finish off the scoring as they grabbed the final scoring spots for the team. Cooper Knowlton and Mike Harbus rounded out the top seven for the day. Rom Cabeza had a great race, nearly breaking 30 minutes for the tough course, and racing strong in the last mile. Both teams will take the upcoming weekend off from racing and will focus on a solid week of training and getting rid of lingering injuries and illness.

The women implored a different racing strategy then they were used to, as we wanted to run as a pack of 6 or 7 runners through the first 2 miles before taking off after the rest of the field. The strategy forced some of the runners to keep the reigns on while others had to push harder then normal to stay in the tight group. At the two mile mark, with the pack running executed nicely, the group split and the chase was on. Carter Hamill and Shauneen took off quickly after the leaders, and made up a lot of ground in the last mile to finish 4th and 5th, and Kim Partee grabbed 12th place and 3rd for the team. Ginger Polich, continuing to show her strength Dan confidence, grabbed 4th for the team Dan 16th overall. Laura Mortimer would grab 5th for the team, while Margaret Davis - despite going for a swim in one of the many deep mud puddles - would finish 6th for the team with Heather Wilson just behind her, to round out the 2nd place finish for the team - behind Brown University. In the JV race, it would be a wave of purple ( with a little muddy brown of course) as Katie Moravec would have a great race to win the race, Dan be followed very closely by Alison Rodriguez and Vanessa Sochat - all finishing within seconds of each other and running as a tight pack throughout the entire race. Meg Ray grabbed 4th overall, and Lucy Sheehan would round out the scoring with  her 14th place finish. Mattea Kramer, Julie Kim and Liz Petrik all had solid races despite the fact that they were racing on the course in the 4th race of the day where conditions had gotten even worse.

The women ran a very dominant race as they scored a mere 20 points to easily outdistance the rest of the field. Running a controlled race, Carter Hamill raced for the last time on the Amherst course and fittingly, grabbed the victory just ahead of Shauneen Garrahan. First year Kim Partee raced with the front pack through 2 miles before falling off but raced great to grab 4th in her Amherst debut. First year's and racing debuts was the word of the day, as the team is comprised of 12 new faces and while they may be youthful, they could be a force. Another first year, Heather Wilson raced with junior Margaret Davis for the entire race Dan the duo would finish in 6th and 7th to complete the scoring. Ginger Polich would grab the last tee shirt, as she crossed the line in 10th, and closely on her heels was another first year, Laura Mortimer who is quickly rounding into shape after spending some time on the Appalachian Trail this summer. A trio of first years would finish in 8-10th for the team, as Vanessa Sochat, Katie Moravec and Meg Ray had great races - with Katie pushing up in the scoring pack for the early stages of the race. Ali Rodriguez had a solid opener as she grabbed 22nd, and then came a crop of new faces as Mattea Kramer, Lucy Sheehan, Julie Kim, Liz Petrik and Rebecca Daily all made their Amherst debuts a success.

2004 Season Depth Chart

First	Last	Y	Amherst	Umass	Tufts	NE's	L3's	Nescac	ECAC	Districts	NCAA
Mike	Erkkinen	05	30:03	28:34	31:06	28:24	28:31	28:25	.	.	.
Matthew	Katz	05	27:50	26:22	.	25:49	26:37	26:09	.	27:02	.
Dave	Molina	05	27:52	26:32	27:56	26:02	26:49	26:25	.	27:07	.
Jack	Morgan	05	.	.	.	.	.	27:11	.	28:14	.
Doug	Norton	05	31:56	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Adam	David	06	.	29:42	31:00	29:57	.	.	.	.	.
Evan	Guiney	06	30:31	28:34	29:06	27:45	28:24	28:18	29:06	.	.
Dave	Schreiner	06	.	.	.	.	28:51	28:04	28:30	.	.
John	Babbott	07	29:18	27:51	28:54	27:23	28:06	28:07	28:41	.	.
Robert	Boley	07	32:16	28:04	30:09	29:47	28:41	.	.	.	.
Nathaniel	Freese	07	.	27:32	.	.	29:44	27:21	27:59	28:38	.
Sam	Hayman	07	.	.	.	.	31:28	.	.	.	.
Fraser	Kitchell	07	30:48	27:57	30:11	28:46	27:57	27:46	29:12	.	.
Cooper	Knowlton	07	28:52	27:17	29:17	29:09	27:43	27:17	29:34	30:59	.
Richard	Wilson	07	29:49	28:12	28:24	27:16	27:20	27:07	.	27:59	.
Romulo	Cabeza	08	31:38	29:31	30:03	29:43	29:47	.	.	.	.
Mike	Harbus	08	29:09	27:13	29:44	28:31	28:07	28:07	28:32	.	.
Tomas	Morrissey	08	28:05	26:30	27:14	26:22	26:22	25:51	.	26:34	.
Ben	Read	08	33:01	30:11	32:10	30:52	31:26	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	5k	5k	6k	5k	5k	5k	6k	6k	6k
Carter	Hamill	05	18:47	18:38	21:29	.	17:53	17:58	.	21:52	21:34
Marcie	Griffith	05	.	.	28:19	.	.	.	.	.	.
Alison	Rodriguez	05	21:08	19:50	25:57	20:53	20:14	20:13	24:14	25:13	24:53
Margaret	Davis	06	19:57	19:45	23:50	.	.	20:27	24:08	.	.
Ginger	Polich	06	20:07	19:17	24:34	19:40	19:23	19:30	.	23:41	24:27
Shauneen	Garrahan	07	18:58	18:43	22:32	18:22	18:07	18:19	.	21:54	22:18
Mattea	Kramer	07	21:59	21:21	.	21:36	21:45	22:08	.	.	.
Julie	Kim	08	22:42	21:34	26:45	21:16	22:45	.	.	.	.
Katie	Moravec	08	20:40	19:47	24:39	19:49	19:40	19:54	23:36	23:59	23:59
Laura	Mortimer	08	20:17	19:36	24:05	.	20:06	20:02	23:48	23:50	24:22
Kim	Partee	08	19:26	19:02	22:52	18:48	18:53	18:57	.	23:12	23:32
Liz	Petrik	08	23:19	22:03	28:33	26:22	25:06	.	.	.	.
Margaret	Ray	08	20:51	20:22	.	20:22	20:56	20:43	24:27	.	.
Lucy	Sheehan	08	22:07	21:07	26:50	21:29	20:45	20:34	25:12	.	.
Vanessa	Sochat	08	20:24	19:55	24:00	.	.	.	.	.	.
Heather	Wilson	08	19:55	19:57	23:43	20:52	20:11	21:07	24:52	.	.