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NCAA National Championships - Nov 17th

Runners of the Meet - Sophie Galleher'10 and Daniel Murner'10

For the first time since 2003, and only the 2nd time in program history, both the men and women headed out to St. Olaf College in Minnesota for the National Championships to run against the best DIII Teams in the country. Waking up to the site of snow flurries was fitting and set the tone for the day. For the women, a seemingly constant reminder of the closest finish in NCAA History - the 1 point loss to Middlebury last year - has served as valuable motivation for the last 365 days and they came to out the past to rest with this race. Having been ranked first all season, and knowing they were the pre-race favorites did not deter them in their efforts. A fall by Kim Partee in the first 200 meters of the race when a large group got tangled up, could have been disastrous but she got up quickly and moved from the back of the pack and got herself back in contention as quickly as she could. Heather Wilson got out well, establishing herself in the Top group of runners by the mile. Elise Tropiano did not get out as quickly and found herself farther back then she ideally should have been but started to work her way through the pack while behind her, Caitlin Murphy, Sophie Galleher, Meg Ray and Nicole Anderson had all gotten out well and had a nice pack that was within a few body lengths. As the race came of the second pond loop, and geared up for the big hill, Heather was in about 10th, Elise was around 25th and Kim had moved to about 40th and Caitlin, Sophie, Nicole and Meg were running around 60th to 90th - with only a few seconds separating each of them. As they came off the hill and headed back to the pond for the final time - around the 3 mile mark - we had moved a little bit with the front 3 runners but were behind both Plattsburg and Wash U, who each had three runners on front of ours. Our 4 - 7 runners had continued to move up, and as we had talked about all week, they knew that they had to come through big if we were to win the the race. In the last portion of the race, Heather had moved into 12th place to earn All-American honors for the 2nd time, Elise moved up to and finished in 22nd, while Kim had climbed all the way back into All-American contention but would ultimately finish 36th - one spot out, but considering what had happened at the start, an incredible accomplishment. With both Plattsburg and Wash U runners maintaining their spots in front of our Top 3, the race would be decided with Murph, Sophie, Nicole and Meg. Murph came by first from the pack - and would finish in 54th, while Sophie, Nicole and Meg would all finish within 11 seconds of each other. More importantly though, was the fact that all 7 of our runners finished in front of every teams 4th runner, and sealed the victory. This was a tremendous team win, as having the 6th and 7th runners displacing every single other team was huge. The outcome was not as obvious as first due to the large packs of people coming in, but when the scores were finally posted, it was a decisive victory and the first ever National Championship for the XC Program. The depth of the team becomes even more evident if you consider that if you had removed our first runner, they still would have won the meet, and scoring the 3-7 runners we would have finished 2nd! Accountability, a huge emphasis for the program, was never more prevalent then here!

The men were looking to capitalize on the momentum from last week's Regional Victory, and in moving up to 12th in the National Rankings were hoping to match that ranking in the team finish. Knowing that our strength could be in the tightness of our scoring pack, they guys put it all on the line. With the sixe of the field, and the depth of talent, they needed to keep in mind not lose sight of where they were in the race as that pack could yield great results without having it be as clear as it would be in smaller races. Daniel Murner got out well and raced up in the Top 75-80 guys as they came down the big hill heading towards the 3m mark out by the pond loop. Carlyle Eubank and Florian Reichert were running with and near each other from the mile on, and both had moved into the Top 100 by the 3m mark. Will Yochum did not get out well, and struggled a little bit with the traffic but was moving up in the race as it got past the 3m mark, with Eric Holaday not far behind. Ben Mears and Mike Harbus raced with each other in the early stages but started to separate from each other as we came back on the athletic field loop for the last 2000m. Daniel continued to move hard in the last 800 as he moved up to 60th overall, and was the 7th NE runner - a big improvement from last week - and was just off from his best time in XC. Carlyle Eubank had his best race of the season as well, as he finished real strong, charging past a slew of people in the last 200meteres to finish 82nd overall and as the 11th NE runner - again, a big step up from last week. Florian Reichert capped out his Amherst XC career with a 98th place finish, and coming in only 4 seconds behind Carlyle. Eric Holaday just missed breaking 26 minutes, as his 26:04 got him 147th and out him as the 21st NE runner, while Will Yochum finished out the scoring with his 155th place finish, just a couple of steps behind Eric. Ben Mears - who along with Will - will gain valuable National Championship experience from this meet. It was a long season for the first year pair, but they had incredible seasons and will come back a lot stronger next year. Mike Harbus closed out his Amherst XC career as the 7th runner on a team, that after the dust had settled, did in fact finish at their ranking in 12th place. This was the best placing by the men in program history, and with 5 runners of the 7 returning next year - all being either sophomores or freshmen - they will look to build upon this year.

District Qualifier - Nov 10th

Runners of the Meet - Caitlin McDermott-Murphy'09 and Carlyle Eubank'10

A return to the infamous "NESCAC Rash" site (though the marsh loop was removed) of Conn College's Harkness park course proved to be historic for both programs. Having never earned a victory at this meet for either team - the women had finished 2nd and the men had finished no higher then 4th - both teams captured not only the win, but the automatic NCAA Qualifiers that went along with it. The women raced strong and dominated the meet, as they put four runners in the top 10, and their Top 7 all within the top 23 runners to finish with 40 points. Heather Wilson battled stomach cramps through the late stages of the race but was still abel to hold on for 2nd place, while Kim Partee and Elise Tropiano matched their 6 / 7 finishes from NESCAC's 2 weeks ago - all running well under 22 minutes for new XC PR's. Murph came through huge, as she is getting better each race, and finished 10th, just missing breaking 22 minutes while Meg Ray capped the scoring with her 15th place finish in a big PR. Sophie Galleher and Nicole Anderson capped the day with their 21st and 23rd place finishes, and help to lead the team to a win and on to St. Olaf for NCAA's next weekend.

The men came in looking to grab one of the 2 automatic qualifying spots, or at the very least try and finish in the Top 5 to be eligible for one of the at-large berths. Getting out aggressively and setting the tone for the race really paid off as they established themselves as early contenders and fought tooth and nail throughout the race. By 3 miles, the team appeared to be in a tight battle for Top 4 and as they got to the last mile, Will Yochum had moved within the Top 10 and Florian Reichert was battling for Top15, and Daniel Murner, Carlyle Eubank and Eric Holaday were running great and were ahead of all other teams final scoring runners. Coming down the final homestretch, Will kicked in for 9th, while Flow would come in 5 seconds later in 17th. Carlyle, Daniel and Eric finished within 3 seconds of each other, all earning All New England honors to finish the scoring - putting our Top 5 in front of all other teams. Ben Mears had a great race, lowering his PR by a lot, running 26:18 while Mike Harbus finished 20 seconds in back of him. Knowing that they had secured a spot for Nationals was exciting, but shortly after, they found out that they had not only qualified but had replicated the women's finish by capturing the win. This was the first win, as well as the first Top 3 finish in the men's history at this meet, and they will look to continue that momentum as they head out to St. Loaf next weekend.

ECAC's - Nov 3rd

Runners of the Meet - Katie Moravec'08 and Jimmy Swanson'10

Getting one more chance to run the Williams course - this time without rain, mud, puddles and relatively no wind - seemed to work wonders in regards to times, as just about everyone ran considerably quicker then they had on the same course in their prior races. The women were hoping to three-peat as ECAC Champions, as they had won the previous 2 years but the Williams depth proved to be a little too much to handle. Katie Moravec improved her finishing spot one place from last year, but it was big as the only improvement she could make was to win the race. She took the lead right from the gun and led for the entirety of the race, nearly breaking 23 minutes in the process. Kristen Ballinger was right with her the whole way, as she claimed the runner-up spot, less then a second behind while another first year, Hallie Schwab, had another great race as she finished 5th overall with a big 6k PR. Rachel Cameron and Cara Giaimo finished in 27th and 28th to close out the scoring, while Laura Mortimer - off for the past 9 days due to a foot injury, toughed it out to finish out her Amherst XC career with a Top 40 race, and Nicole Green had a big kick to get well under 25 minutes and improve upon her placing from this meet last year to also close out her Amherst XC career.

The men were led by Jimmy Swanson, who ran a gutsy race - leading for the first mile - to place 19th overall, just missing the All ECAC Team. Peter Foote was second for the team, cracking the top 30 and then John McGrail and Tommy Anderson finished within 10 seconds of Footie - with John getting the better of the last stretch kick! Will Bell rounded out the scoring in 50th, while Steve Grigelivich and Kevin Hanley closed out their season with the strong performances. The men, like the women, sat out their entire Top 7 (who were resting for the District qualifiers next weekend) but were still able to finish 6th overall - against a lot of other teams who were either running full teams or had some or several of their Top 7 runners in the race.

NESCAC's - Oct 27th

Runners of the Meet - Heather Wilson'08 & Nicole Anderson'09 and Will Yochum'11

What seems to have developed into a tradition in the past NESCAC Championships, Mother Nature decided to provide rain, mud and wind to make the meet a true XC Championship at Williams' Mt. Greylock High School course. Despite the adverse conditions, and in front of a huge crowd of friends and family who had gathered for the annual Tailgate festivities, the teams proved they are in the top of the conference. The women got the day started and, looking to defend their title from last year, they did so in a dominating manner. Heather Wilson broke free of the front pack at about 2 miles and opened up a large gap to win the race over a loaded field, including several All-American's and run to her best 6k time - despite the conditions. Kim Partee and Elise Tropiano were not far behind as they finished 6th and 7th - both earning First Team All NESCAC, and then hot on their heels was Caitlin Murphy who placed 10th, Meg Ray in 12th and a big time performance from Nicole Anderson to finish 14th - putting 6 Amherst runners on the All NESCAC Teams (Top14 earn All Conference). Sophie Galleher finished out the scoring 7 in 17th place, with first year runners Kristen Ballinger and Hallie Schwab having great races to finish in the Top 25, with Katie Moravec also in the Top 30. Rachel cameron and cara Giaimo rounded out the Top 12. In the Open Race - for those runners not comprising the Top 12 - we got some real good races, despite the worsened conditions of the course from the first 2 races as well as heavier rains. Nicole Green led this squad with one of her strongest races, while Cate Knuff and Melissa Pritchard were hot on her heels.

The men were a bit conservative at the start and did not put themselves in the best position, and were playing a bit of catch up in the early stages. By the mid way point of the race, they had started to establish themselves and there was a lot of great racing, with the meet's balance on the line. Will Yochum had a strong last mile to move into the runner-up spot, securing an All-NESCAC finish as well as earning the Rookie of the Year honors. Florian Reichert and Daniel Murner just missed getting on to the All-NESCAC team by 2 and 4 seconds, but did finish in the Top 20. Carlyle Eubank finished 23rd, while Eric Holaday finished out the scoring in 27th place with another solid race by the pair. Ben Mears, as he has done for the past few meets, again raced in the scoring 7, securing his spot on the District team that will look to try and earn only it's 2nd NCAA appearance. Mike harbus had a strong 2nd half resurgence to round out the varsity seven. Jimmy Swanson and Peter Foote worked well together, while Harrison Lakehomer came in 10th for the team - re injuring his achilles that he had worked so hard to get back to racing health. John McGrail and Will Bell closed out the Top 12, while in the Open race, Tommy Anderson had a strong race to lead the team in that race despite having not raced for a couple of weeks due to injury. Steve Grigelevich and Travis Cohoon each had, despite the conditions of the course being as bad as they could have been, tough races and will get another shot at the course next week at ECAC's

Little Three's - Oct 20th

Runners of the Meet - Kristen Ballinger'11 and Jimmy Swanson'10

In another warm day for XC running, the teams headed South to Wesleyan for the annual Little Three Championship. The women were looking to defend their title from a year ago, while the men were trying to put an end to Williams dominance. The women got started first and employing a pack running strategy that focused on keeping things together through 2 Miles while keying off of whichever Williams runner happened to be running as their 2nd scorer throughout, came away with the title. Heather Wilson made up a lot of ground on Williams top runner, All American Rachel Asher, and moved into the lead in the last 200 meters to win the individual honors. Elise Tropiano came in 3rd, while Meg Ray, Caitlin Murphy and Kim Partee finished 5,6 and 7 to finish out the scoring at 22. Sophie Galleher also finished in the Top 10 while first year Kristen ballinger had a great race to finish in the varsity 7, having put herself in the pack through the first 2 miles and holding on strongly. Hallie Schwab had a great race as she broke 20 minutes for the first time this season and looks to be coming into her won just at the right time. Rachel Cameron and Cara Giaimo finished within seconds of each other, with Melissa Pritchard and Cate Knuff hot on their heels.

The men were looking to end a 20 year streak by Williams, and through the first 3 miles it was a coin flip as to who was winning as it was that close, despite an off day by one of our normal scoring runners. Coming out of the woods towards the final straightaway, Williams had clearly taken over but our guys continued to battle as Williams went 1,3,5 with Will Yochum, Daniel Murner and Florian Reichert finishing 2,4,6. Williams 4 and 5 runners came before Eric Holaday - who continues to run very impressively, and has been a huge boost. Williams closed out their scoring seven by putting their 6 and 7 runners in front of Carlyle Eubank - our final scoring runner. First year Ben Mears had another solid race as he finished 6th for the team, with Jimmy Swanson coming in a few seconds later with a great race. Harrison Lakehomer raced for the first time this season, as he has been coming back from an achilles tear this summer, and could provide a huge spark for the team as he continues to get stronger. John McGrail, Will Bell and Peter Foote finished within seconds of each other, to finish in the Top 40. The men will look to try and come out on top next weekend as they will look to try and improve upon last years 3rd place finish at NESCAC's

All New England's - Oct 6th

Runners of the Meet - Cara Giaimo'11 and Kim Partee'08 & Florian Reichert'08 and Ben Mears'11

In very "unlike Fall weather", the teams battled not only the large majority of schools in New England, but also waged a battle with Mother Nature. With temperatures nearing 90, and feeling a lot hotter with the dry, dusty air both teams opted for a more conservative race strategy - going out slower then normal and working their way back through the race as it progressed. Two was the magic number for the women, as both the JV and varsity squads garnered runner-up finishes. The women's varsity seven matched their runner-up finish from last year, finishing just behind DI Quinnipiac. Typically running a bit more aggressive at the start, the early patience paid off as the team was moving up very quickly in the last half of the race. Elise tropiano and Heather Wilson finished 6-7, and Kim Partee - quickly returning to top form - just missed cracking the Top Ten, as she placed 12th. Sophie Galleher and Caitlin Murphy finished 1 second apart, as both broke the Top 35, while Meg Ray was only a few steps behind in 40, while Nicole Anderson finished 87th. In the JV race, Kristen Ballinger and Laura Mortimer each raced great as they went out near the front of the pack and stayed their for the entire race as they would place 5th and 7th - both running times that would have put them in the varsity Top 7. Rachel Cameron broke the Top 25, while Cara Giaimo is starting to round into form as she followed 2 great weeks of workouts with her best race of the year to finish 27th, while Liz Dalton is also turning a corner in the racing department as she finished off the scoring for the team.

Paying heed to the weather, the men also went out conservatively, and despite being around 150th at the opening mile they did not panic and started moving up through the field. Florian Reichert led the team with his 32nd placing while less then 40 seconds later the scoring runners - Will Yochum (first DIII freshmen and 2nd overall), carlyle Eubank, Mike Harbus and Eric Holaday - all came in. Daniel Murner had a little bit of an off day, and finished as the team's 6th runner while Jimmy Swanson got his first taste of varsity running for the year. Despite the dry, hot conditions, the team finished with its highest ever placing at the NE Championships as it posted an 8th place finish, and 2nd DIII team. In the men's JV race, first year Ben Mears had a great race to lead the team with his 47th place finish, and was followed by Ben Klein, Steve grigelevich and Travis cohoon - all separated by only a few seconds, and Kevin Hanley closing out the scoring as the 5th guy.

Purple Valley Classic - Sept 22nd (Amherst Student)

Runner of the Meet - Rom Cabeza'08 and Elise Tropiano'09

For the first of three times this fall, the teams headed to Williams, and their XC course held at Mt. Greylock HS. Taking advantage of a beautiful day, and great competition at the front, both teams ran away with successful days. The men got things started, and despite a few key runners either out with colds or running through it, they were determined to prove their mettle against the field. A strong trio in the Amherst Purple finished in the top 10, as Daniel Murner and Will Yochum placed 5th and 6th, a second apart, and Florian Reichert grabbed the 10th spot as he ran his first race for the team. Eric Holaday continued his steady rise and improvement, as he raced with in the Williams scoring 5 for the entirety of the race before finishing 14th, and ahead of their 5th runner. carlyle Eubank, battling the 3rd week of school plague that has been running its way through the team, struggled a bit was able to finish in 29th, and close out the scoring for the team. First year Ben Mears got his first taste of Top 7, as he finished 6th for the team, and Rom Cabeza had a strong race to finish 7th for the team. John McGrail worked his way through the pack in the 2nd half of the race to close out strong.

The women got the win in their race - their first 6k of the year - but it was extremely hard fought as they held off Plattsburg and Williams in a see saw battle. Elise Tropiano locked horns with the Plattsburg's top runner - a Top 4 finisher at the XC NCAA's from a year ago - and, while ultimately finishing 2nd, raced to her best 6k ever. Heather Wilson grabbed 5th overall, while Sophie Galleher struggled with a fast opening pace but finished strong to break up a pair of Plattsburg runners who were their 3-4 scorers. Caitlin Murphy had a very strong 2nd half of the race to finish in the top 15, while Kim Partee continues to improve quickly, as she finished 2 spots back to finish out the scoring. Nicole Anderson and katie Moravec rounded out the top 7, as they both placed in the Top 25 of the race. Kristen Ballinger showed no problems with the 6k distance, as she moved up comfortably throughout the race and unleashed a vicious kick in the last straight to walk down a handful of runners. Cate Knuff and Melissa Pritchard worked well together, and both cracked 25 minutes. Care giaimo had a nice 2nd half of the race to pick up Christina Wong as they finished within 2 seconds of each other.

UMass Dartmouth Invitational - Sept 15th (Amherst Student Article)

Runner of the Meet - Caitlin McDermott-Murphy'09 and Eric Holaday'10 & Jack Seaver'11

Despite some early rain, and then a drenching rainfall at the beginning of the last race of the day, the teams came away with some very fast times and great competition in all the races. All first years ran in the JV sections of the race, along with those not on the day's varsity squad, and nearly every returning runner who raced here last year improved upon their times despite the rain. The women's JV race was the first of the day, and Amherst started out in dominating fashion as they won that with a mere 23 points. Kim Partee came out of the pool to run her first workout as part of the race, and while lacking for her land legs still made a strong showing. Kristen Ballinger had a strong 2nd half of the race, and a huge finishing kick to finish 3rd. Rachel Cameron, Cate Knuff, Zandra Walton, Hallie Schwab and Melissa Pritchard all raced with in a few seconds of one another to go along with placing in the Top 11 - as Rachel and Zandra made the race their season opener. Nicole Green improved upon last years time by over a minute to finish in the Top 15, followed closely by Liz Dalton, Christina Won and Mercedes Taylor, with Cara Giaimo running under the 21 minute mark. In the women's varsity, the women implemented their pre-race strategy of running in pairs to perfection as the 4 pairs of runners came across the line together as Heather Wilson and Elise Tropiano ran comfortably to 3-4 placing's, with Katie Moravec and Sophie Galleher the next "team" to come through in 10th and 11th, followed shortly by Meg Ray and Caitlin Murphy - with all under 19 minutes, and then Nicole Anderson and Laura Mortimer, the "pupula penguins" both cracked the Top 20. All eight were comfortably within every other teams top scoring runner - a great indication of depth and talent.

The men got out a little conservative, but moved up well in the middle miles and each runner improved upon their time from here a year ago by quite a big margin. Daniel Murner led the team with his 12th place finish and was followed by Mike harbus in 17th and carlyle Eubank in 23 - with all three runners breaking the 26 minute mark. Just missing the 26 barrier, but only by 2 seconds was 4th man Eric Holaday - running 1:30 faster then last year. Peter Foote rounding out the scoring with his 45th place finish, while Tommy Anderson and Steve Grigelevich both were well under not only their times from this course last year, but their PR's from any race. In the JV section, despite their success last week at the opening meet, al of the first years raced in the JV section and it was Will Yochum who did most of the early leading as he not only finished 3rd overall but ran well under 26 minutes in the process. The first years all performed great as our first 6 guys were the class of 2011 as John McGrail, Peter Harrison, Kevin Hanley, Ben Mears and Travis Cohoon finished within 12 seconds of each other as they finished in 16 - 23 place, with the first 5 of them running 27 minutes and Travis just missing. Rom cabeza had a solid race, as did Ben Klein - both runners having been felled by ankle woes in the past couple of weeks. Kit Callahan ran to a new 5 mile PR, and Jack Seaver - who matched his best time pace for the 5k through the 5 mile, to run well under 29 minutes and surprise a lot of people - Coach Ned included!

Amherst Invite - Sept 8th (Amherst Student Article)

Runner of the Meet - Cate Knuff'10 and Will Yochum'11

The teams got the 2007 campaign under way in victorious fashion as both the men and women dominated the season opener. Despite extremely hot and humid conditions, the teams fared well and despite a heavy training load from the week, looked very strong. The men - racing a 5k rather then the typical 5 mile distance - grabbed the first victory of the year for the college, as they finished with 18 points to win the 7 team invitational. The men swept the first 4 scoring places, and finished the scoring with an 8th place scorer as First year runner Will Yochum, Mike Harbus, Carlyle Eubank and Daniel Murner ran a conservative opening mile before running together - along with eventual winner, Florian Reichert (running unattached) who is waiting word on his Amherst College eligibility - for the remainder of the race. Eric Holaday closed out the scoring with his 9th place finish. Peter Foote finished in the Top 15, while 5 Amherst runners all finished within 9 seconds of each other to finish in the Top 25 as 4 first years- Peter Harrison, John Mcgrail, Kevin Hanley and Ben Mears - along with Steven Grigelevich worked well with each other.

The women ran a controlled effort tempo, focusing on pack running rather then an all out race effort, and implemented the plan to perfection as Katie Moravec, Sophie Galleher, Nicole Anderson, Heather Wilson and Elise Tropiano all came across the line together, with Meg Ray and Laura Mortimer coming across a few ticks of the clock after that. Caitlin Murphy looked strong as she finished in the Top 15, and few seconds after her were 2 first year runners making their college debuts in Kristen Ballinger and Hallie Schwab to both crack the Top 20. Cate Knuff had a very strong race in less then ideal conditions as she led the next pack of Amherst runners all first year runners - Christina Wong, Mercedes Taylor, Melissa Pritchard and Cara Giaimo - to finish within a few seconds on one another.