The men finished in sixth place with 137 points. The women came in third place, behind Williams and Middlebury Colleges, with 95 points.
While the results were somewhat disappointing for both teams, they still have many reasons to remain optimistic about their chances at Nationals.
Men's Cross Country
The men took sixth place with 137 points, just nine points out of fourth and 22 points behind third. Tufts University won the race with 43 points.
Tomas Morrissey '08, who earned Second-Team All-NESCAC honors, led the men to the finish line with an excellent 11th-place finish in 25:51. Morrissey was the first first-year to finish the race, which won him NESCAC Rookie of the Year accolades.
Co-captains Matt Katz '05 and Dave Molina '05 followed Morrissey, placing 16th and 23rd, respectively, within 16 seconds of one another and not too far behind Morrissey.
Richard Wilson '07, Jack Morgan '05 and Cooper Knowlton '07 crossed the finish line within 10 seconds of each other, grabbing 43rd, 46th and 54th places. Nate Freese '07 finished shortly after in 58th place to complete the top seven varsity runners for the team.
The men all posted solid times at the meet. Morgan was especially successful, as he returned from injury to help out the team in his first competition of the season.
"The men have been racing very well," said Head Coach Erik Nedeau. "They have really been stepping it up. We know that making it to Nationals will be a long shot, but if they can all put it together in two weeks then I think that we could have a shot at it."
The men must improve their times in order to qualify for Nationals, and must finish in the top four at the NCAA regional meet on Nov. 13. Nedeau does not think this goal is unattainable.
"The guys are truly racing for each other and not worrying about anything else," said Nedeau. "They are willing to do what it takes, lay it on the line, and I think that regardless of whether or not we make it to Nationals, they will race to the best of their ability and have a great race."
Women's Cross Country
The women's team finished in third place out of the 11 competing NESCAC schools with 95 points, behind Williams and Middlebury, who tied for first place with 59 points. In the most recent national poll, Williams was ranked first, Amherst was third and Middlebury was fifth.
Carter Hamill '05 and Shauneen Garrahan '07 raced to third and fifth place finishes, respectively, to qualify for First-Team All-NESCAC honors with times of 17:58 and 18:19. Hamill was just 10 seconds behind first-place finisher Caroline Cretti of Williams and less than a second behind second-place harrier Jessica Hanzer of Middlebury.
Kim Partee '08 came in at 15th place for the Jeffs in 18:57 to win the Rookie of the Year award in addition to earning Second-Team All-NESCAC honors.
Ginger Polich '06 secured 28th place with her time of 19:30, while first-year Katie Moravec ended the scoring with her 48th place finish at 19:54. Laura Mortimer '08 had a solid race, too, finishing 53rd, followed by co-captain Ali Rodriguez '05 in 62nd.
"I would say that expectations for the end of the season would have to be lowered a bit," said Nedeau, who at one time expected the women to challenge for the national title. "The talent that we have on the team is incredible but perhaps it is too much to think that a large group of first-years could race at that kind of level."
While losing to rivals Williams and Middlebury was disappointing, the team is still hoping to work towards closing the gap between its top three runners and its remaining four varsity runners.
"A more realistic goal at this point will be to finish in the top six or seven teams rather then being able to challenge for the title," said Nedeau. "We have the talent on this team to be able to [challenge for a win] but with it getting so late in the season, and it not happening yet, I think it's more realistic to lower the goals."
The men and women will challenge more nationally-ranked Div. III teams on Nov. 6 at the ECAC Championships at Tufts University.