Middlebury College claimed their first-ever national championship, with a total score of 103 points. Williams College finished 20 points behind Middlebury, and settled for second in the nation. Colby College brought up the rear and finished 24th in the field.
The women were led by standout Katie Scangos '02, who completed the three-mile course in 18:34. She placed 16th out of 215 runners, and earned All-American status for the second consecutive year.
Co-captain Katie Famous '01 (19:22) finished second on the team and 63rd in the field overall. "I never really adjusted to the cold, dry air, which I think hurt the whole team a little bit," said Famous. "Even with the cold weather and tough running conditions, it was an incredible experience."
Juniors Molly Burnett (19:28, 77th), Emily Lobsenz (19:40, 92nd) and Rebecca Woo (20:13, 142nd) rounded out the scoring for the Jeffs. Amherst, which ended with 360 points, was just edged out of 15th place by NESCAC foe Hamilton College, by two points.
Erinn White '04 (20:49, 158th) and junior Diana Rancourt (20:50, 159th) rounded out the Amherst finishers.
Coach Erik Nedeau was mildly disappointed with the results at Nationals, but thrilled with the women's accomplishments throughout the fall season. "I thought a top-ten finish was realistic," said Nedeau. "I'm proud of the effort given by every runner this fall. Cross-country requires a total team effort, and each runner contributed to the team's success."
Famous echoed Nedeau's sentiments. "It was a major accomplishment for our team just to get there," she said. "I am so proud of my teammates and I think that they will be absolutely incredible again next year."
The women certainly have an exciting future ahead of them. Six of the seven runners who competed at Nationals return to next year's squad. The team should be even stronger next year with the return of sophomores Alison Dimon and Laurel Kilgour. Both harriers were felled by injury and illness, which ended each of their seasons prematurely.
"The team is both physically and mentally strong," said Famous. "[The team] had quite a few injuries this season, and I think that with a healthy team, we can definitely place in the top 10 next year."
On the way to NCAAs the Jeffs had many highlights. Scangos was the Jeffs' top runner in the fall and was named to the First Team All-NESCAC and NESCAC All-Academic teams.
To get to the NCAAs the team put together a solid string of performances at the end of the year. Their fourth place finish at the ECAC Championships paved the way for their third place finish at the New England Regionals. The team qualified for NCAAs with the finish at New Englands.
During the whole fall season the women consistently performed strongly. The team started off strong out of the gate with second place finishes at the Amherst Invitational and the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational.
In their next meet the women pulled out their only win of the season. At the Codfish Bowl held at Franklin Park in Boston, Mass. the Jeffs were led to victory by Rancourt, who was the top finisher.
Rounding out the season the Jeffs finished third at the Tufts Invitational, second at the Little IIIs and fourth at the NESCAC Championship meet.