The men defeated six other teams, including NESCAC rivals Middlebury and Connecticut College and earned an impressive first place finish on the grueling five mile course.
John Stanton-Geddes '04 won the race in 27:39.6, followed closely by Mike Page '05E, who finished third overall in 27:50.5. Matt Katz '05, Zeke Phillips '05 and Carson Taylor '03 finished ninth, 10th and 11th, respectively, giving the Jeffs five of the top 10 finishers on the day.
Stanton-Geddes said that he thought the most important part of the race was the final portion when the Jeffs really found their stride en route to the team.
"The race rolled along comfortably and climaxed with a kick out of the woods across the finish line," said Stanton-Geddes.
"I'm so proud of everyone," Taylor added. "Many of the performances were really encouraging, even if some of our bigger competition was not present."
Other team members shared similar sentiments about the day's success. "It was really a great day," remarked Phillips. "People looked really good."
Katz considered the conditions the toughest part of the race. "It was hot," Katz said. "I just wanted to take my uniform off and run through the sprinklers on the golf course. I couldn't stop sweating. I'll definitely hydrate better from now on."
The Jeffs have increased their workouts this fall and the effects have shown in their first two races with added depth and determination.
"We ran well, but we're all pretty tired," said co-captain Alex Lenkosky '03. "The past two or three weeks of training have been intense. We have a couple more weeks of strength building, long workouts and then we'll start to taper. I think everyone will feel a lot stronger and faster at that point. Until then we just have to be tough."
The team is looking forward to next Saturday's meet at UMass-Dartmouth. The course is notoriously flat and fast and if the team's first two races are any indication of what lies ahead, another strong showing should vault the Lord Jeffs to a third consecutive high finish against another tough group of rival colleges.