Men's Cross Country
Although the men placed third at the meet with 47 points, they were not too far behind Williams and Wesleyan, who had 34 and 42 points, respectively.
First-year Tomas Morrissey had an outstanding race, finishing first for the team and securing a fifth-place finish overall with a time of 26:22. Co-captain seniors Matt Katz and Dave Molina crossed the finish line soon after him to grab sixth and eighth place finishes. Katz ran in 26:37 and Molina finished in 26:49.
Sophomores Richard Wilson and Cooper Knowlton also had excellent races, crossing the line in 12th and 16th place, respectively. Fraser Kitchell and John Babbott, also sophomores, finished sixth and seventh for the Jeffs, placing 23rd and 25th overall and finishing within 10 seconds of one another. First-year Mike Harbus was on their heels, finishing just one second behind Babbott.
"I thought that we performed below our ability," said Katz of the meet. However, he was upbeat about the championship season. "With a couple more strong performances we can compete for a higher position in NESCACs."
The team is still aiming to return to Nationals. "If everyone has a strong end of the season and we get some runners back from injuries, we can make a run at it," said Katz.
Women's Cross Country
The third-ranked Jeffs came in second place with 42 points, behind the top-ranked Ephs' score of 33. Wesleyan came in a distant third with 55 points.
As has been customary throughout the past four seasons, co-captain Carter Hamill '05 pulled through for the team to finish first overall in a time of 17:53, beating Eph Caroline Cretti by just four seconds. Hamill had not raced since Sept. 25, but proved that she is more than fit for the championships. As usual, Hamill was followed closely by sophomore Shauneen Garrahan in fourth at 18:07. First-year Kim Partee, who has also run consistently well this season, clinched eighth place with a time of 18:53.
Junior Ginger Polich crossed the finish line at 19:23 in 12th place, followed by first-year Katie Moravec at 19:40, who rounded out the team's score by finishing in 17th.
Meanwhile, first-years Laura Mortimer and Heather Wilson, both returning to competition after injuries, completed the varsity seven in 25th and 26th place with times of 20:06 and 20:11, respectively.
Co-captain senior Ali Rodriguez ran well and finished 28th. First-year Lucy Sheehan also had a solid race and managed to grab 32nd place with her first sub-21 minute time this season. She was followed by fellow first-year Meg Ray, who also completed the race in under 21 minutes. First-years Mattea Kramer, Julie Kim and Liz Petrik also had positive finales to their first collegiate cross country seasons with very good performances at the meet.
With sophomore Margaret Davis back racing again next week and the women working to close the gap behind the top three runners, the team has every reason to be excited by the possibility of winning the NESCAC title for the first time in Amherst history next week.
Head Coach Erik Nedeau noted that the men and women both have similar challenges to overcome in order to race their best in the upcoming championships. The main obstacle for both teams is the gap between the first three runners and the last four runners, as demonstrated by this week's finishes. "We matched up great this weekend-both men and women-with the front threes of both teams, but we got hurt by the gap from the front three to the fourth or fifth person," said Nedeau.
Solving this problem will be key to success in the championships. "[Both teams] are going to need for the runners, especially the fourth through seventh scorers, to step up and close the gap [between] them and the front three if we are to be able to race our best," said Nedeau.
Overall, the Little Three Championship ended the regular season on a high note. It was a great race for all of the harriers who did not qualify for championship meets.
The Jeffs hope to begin their championship season with a win on Saturday at the NESCAC Championships at Colby College.