The women made a strong statement about the depth of their team, running without Emily Lobsenz '02 and still placing five runners in front of Middlebury's fifth runner and Williams' fourth runner, teams that are ranked first and seventh in the nation. Led by the sixth place finish of the late-blooming Carter Hamill '05, who dropped 45 seconds off her personal record, the team finished with 86 points, only 10 behind Williams who took the first and second overall places in the meet. Hamill was followed by Martha Nelson '03 in 15th, Aparna Nancherla '04 in 19th, Diana Rancourt '02 in 22nd and Becca Woo '02 in 24th.
"The race was amazing. I felt pretty strong, but it was definitely the hardest I've ever run and [I] was feeling tired in the second mile-but we all ran like Ned [Head Coach Erik Nedeau] told us to, and that was for each other," said Woo. "It was great to finish and know immediately that we had qualified for nationals."
Nancherla and Rancourt continue to impress as they move up in the overall standings at every meet. "We raced as a team, with heart and with a mission. We ran so hard some of us couldn't walk after our finish," said Rancourt. "It's a wonderful way for the seniors to end four years of hard work mingled with injuries, disappointments and successes-kind of like a grand finale."
This coming Saturday, the women will be racing for glory at the national meet in Rock Island, Ill. The strength of the fourth and fifth runners will become especially important in determining who takes home a trophy, and the Amherst women have shown that they have the ability. "I think the exciting thing is that we can still have the potential to do a lot better, and we can prove that next week at Nationals when we go after Williams and Middlebury," said co-captain Molly Burnett '02.
The Amherst men's 10th place finish was impressive because of the strong field of 24 teams, and also because of the relative youth and inexperience of the Jeffs. With three freshmen on the varsity team, lack of experience was consistently overcome throughout the season by the plethora of young talent and dedication.
Nedeau shared a similar view. "I was very pleased with the team's performance-both Saturday and even more so for the entire season," said Nedeau. "Being so young, it can be tough to be all out week in and week out, and it seemed like they got a little tired towards the end of the season."
"I think that big things are definitely in their future as we gained a lot of experience this year and they know what it is like to train and race as a team," he added. "We are really looking forward to cross country next fall so that we can build on what we started."
Matt Katz '05 led the men, just as he has in nearly every other race this season. Katz finished 37th overall with a time of 26:10. John Stanton-Geddes '04, who frequently played the role of Katz last year, finished his season with a 50th place finish. "It wasn't a bad race for me, but it wasn't a great race," said Stanton-Geddes. "I think that the most important thing that came out of this meet is that we have a team with the potential to make Nationals in the future."
One person whose absence will be felt on and off the course next year next year is co-captain Ben Kozyak '02. Kozyak finished 61st overall and third for the team with a time of 26:36. "It was a strong finish to what's been a great season for us," said Kozyak. "It was not a spectacular race, by any means, but a pretty good one," explained Kozyak. Jack Morgan '05 had one of his best races of the season for a fourth place team finish and a 78th place overall standing with a time of 26:56. Carson Taylor '03, co-captain Rusty Ryan '02 and newcomer Zeke Phillips '05 rounded out the top seven for Amherst.
Morgan, Phillips and Katz should be the heart of what looks to be an incredibly talented team next year, while Stanton-Geddes and Taylor should also contribute as both leaders and runners. Nationals is certainly not out of the question in the next year or two, but for now, the men's team has time to rest before training for winter track begins.