Less than twenty minutes later Amherst emerged in third place with 64 points as four runners finished in the top 15. Middlebury College (35 points) and Williams College (54 points) finished first and second, respectively.
The team was not running in full strength, as a few of their top runners were sidelined due to injury, so finishing so close to a team like Williams, which is ranked ahead of Amherst in the national poll, was definitely an encouraging sign.
For the third week in a row, Amherst was led by the precocious freshman Carter Hamill, who came in seventh with a time of 18:56. Diana Rancourt '02, Emily Lobsenz '02 and Becca Woo '02 finished in 11th, 12th and 14th, places respectively.
"I am feeling much stronger now. I had a really good race and it was nice to be running with Emily and Becca," Rancourt said.
Helen Dole '04 ran one of her best collegiate cross country races, finishing in 21st place with a time of 19:48. Right behind Dole was Aly Venti '04 and Ali Dimon '03 in 23rd and 26th place.
"While watching the race, I noticed that the Amherst women were running fast, but there were still people from the other teams ahead of them, notably Williams and Middlebury runners. What they need to do to beat those teams is to just run as a pack, but a little bit faster than the other runners," 2000 men's team captain Brian Gilliss '01 said.
The conclusion of the Tufts Invitational marked the end of the non-championship portion of the women's season. In the next two weeks the team will bring their mileage back up and train right through fall-break.
The following Saturday is the Open New England Championships at Boston's Franklin Park. This meet will put Amherst against all the teams in the region, including larger Division I schools.