Women's Cross Country
From the gunshot at the start of the meet, Carter Hamill '05 and Shauneen Garrahan '07 made it clear that they would finish in the top 10.
Hamill, a veteran Nationals competitor, knew what needed to be done. She finished in fourth place as the top New England finisher and earned her ninth All-American honor. This run also marked Hamill's personal best finish at Nationals, and the best ever finish for an Amherst woman. Her name will be inscribed in the Amherst College record book, next to Rob Mitchell '99, who finished fourth in 1998.
Garrahan kept Hamill in sight throughout the race. "Shauneen ran between 10th and 18th through the middle miles," said Head Coach Erik Nedeau, "but started moving up strongly within the last 400m and used a devastating kick to move from 15th into the 10th spot, an All-American finish which tied her with Carter for the second best finish ever."
Co-captain Helen Dole '04 was really impressed by Garrahan's performance.
"Shauneen ran a gutsy race to finish 10th right behind a former professional cyclist who is 42 years old and back at college using her one remaining year of eligibility because she'd left college when she was younger," said Dole.
Racing at her first national meet, Aly Venti '04 finished third for the team and in 70th place overall.
Co-captain Erinn White '04 traveled with the team to Nationals as an alternate in 2001, but this year she earned her chance to race. White barely missed cracking the top 100 and finished 102nd out of more than 200 runners.
Dole also had an incredible showing. Initially slated as the alternate, Dole stepped up and met the challenge. She finished fifth for the team, rounding out the scoring and securing the team's fifth place finish.
Sophomores Jenny Horowitz and Ginger Polich finished in the team's sixth and seventh spots, respectively, in their first-ever Nationals.
NESCAC teams dominated at Nationals this season. Middlebury, Trinity and Williams Colleges placed first, second and fourth, respectively.
Despite the loss of three seniors, "we have a good group returning and will look to build upon our experience to try and improve upon our finish next year," said Nedeau.
Men's Cross Country
"A banner season came to a poignant end on a beautiful day in Indiana," said senior co-captain John Stanton-Geddes.
The men took their last place finish in stride. "It was far from the best day for our team, but it was a great experience," said the senior.
"Unlike the women, [the men] were not assured one of the qualifying spots and had to focus on trying to get that last qualifying spot the weekend before, and that seemed to take a lot more out of them then we would have hoped," said Coach Nedeau.
Matt Katz '05 crossed the finishline first for the men in 107th place, followed by classmates Jack Morgan and Dave Molina, who finished within three seconds of each other. Stanton-Geddes, Dave Schreiner '06, Brandt Tullis '07 and co-captain Mike Page '05 rounded out the men's seven in that order.
Coach Nedeau is eager for next season. "The guys raced great all season long and were tough as nails the weekend before to get to the meet, and we are confident that they will build on this experience and be an even stronger team next season and will look to try and return and write a different ending," he said.