On Saturday, the men's cross country team stepped to the starting line of their home course at the base of Memorial Hill. Despite changes in the course due to the additions of modular housing, the Amherst men combined for an impressive third place finish in the first meet of the year. The men's team was well represented by a strong group of returning runners and strengthened by seven new freshmen.

"We had a tough week of practice," noted captain Carson Taylor '03. "Even so, the team showed promise with many solid performances. I think we have a very deep team with almost everyone capable of running varsity on any given day."

The men seem to unanimously agree that this year's team has more depth and talent than in the past few years.

"The team proved that we're willing to step up and lay it all on the line," said Sophomore Michael Page. "We were missing Matt Katz '05 [due to religious observances], who was a top varsity runner last year, and we still placed respectably." Page is returning to the team this year after a season off.

"The competition was more intense than in past years, especially with national-contender Trinity College making a quick early pace," said John Stanton-Geddes '04.

Zeke Phillips '05 and Cameron Millard '05 turned in notable performances in the race. In addition freshmen David Scheiner, Fraser Kitchell and Evan Guiney ran impressive races in their college debut.

"The freshmen showed a lot of heart," said Taylor. "Saturday was their first five mile race ever."

Though early in the season, the team is hopeful that they will be one of the surprise NESCAC teams this fall. The team hopes this first race will be a springboard to further success this season.

"It's still really early," Phillips said. "We have a lot more races to run and training to do, but I think it was a really positive start to the season."

The men's cross country team will travel to the Panther Invitational hosted by NESCAC rival Middlebury College next Saturday.