The 5.5 mile race, consisting of a hilly course that looped around the Amherst campus, resulted in a huge win for NESCAC rival Trinity College.
The visiting Bantams cruised to the team victory with the help of three top-five individual finishes in the race. Brandeis University finished behind the Amherst effort, coming in with a third-place finish in the final team event standings.
"Trinity was the team to beat. They were returning most of a national team and ran like it," said John Stanton-Geddes '04.
The race was won by Trinity runner Ryan Bak in 26:49. Amherst Co-captain Ben Kozyak '02 was the top finisher for the Jeffs, finishing fifth in a 27:42.00 performance.
All in all, it was a good day for the Jeffs, with five runners finishing in the top 13 places. Stanton-Geddes finished right behind Kozyak, posting an eighth-place mark with a time of 27:51.00.
"It's a long race, and I was doubting myself until I crested the hill and saw Michael Page ['04] curled up in a fetal position, which give me a fresh surge of energy that carried me through to the finish," joked Stanton-Geddes.
The other Amherst runners who finished in the top 13 were Matthew Katz '05, Ezekiah Phillips '05 and Carson Taylor '03, whose times were 28:29.00, 28:33.00 and 28:51.00, respectively.
Even though it is still early in the season, the Jeffs have to be impressed with the accomplishments of the two freshman runners in the top 13, Katz and Phillips. The newcomers will be looked upon to provide the same effort as the season continues.
"At this early point in the season the training is very intense and we don't go into the meet fully rested, so expectations aren't too high," said Stanton-Geddes. "Also, as this was our first meet of the season, it was more of test to see where we are now. Fortunately, we performed very well as a team, and I'd say that we're looking forward to a strong season, even with a very young team."
Coming off their stellar showing in the Amherst Invitational, the Jeffs will now travel to Vermont to the home of NESCAC rival Middlebury College for the Panther Invite on Saturday.
"We'll be seeing some new teams, a different course, and will get some more experience and strength that we'll use at the end of the season," said Stanton-Geddes. "The team did awesome today and should move up from here."