The team kicked off the year with Amherst's one-and-only home meet, where the women snatched first place and the men second. The men and women traveled East the next week to garner second- and fifth-place showings, respectively, at the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational. At the Tufts Invitational the following week, the women once again emerged triumphant while the men posted a respectable fourth place. Finally, at the New England Open over the long Fall Break weekend, the women and men grabbed fifth and 14th places, respectively, against a field of more than 40 other teams from all divisions.
Thus far, 2005 has seen both the men and women focus on developing cooperation and teamwork. Head Coach Erik Nedeau introduced the strategy of racing as a pack for the women at the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational and for the men at the Tufts meet. "I have been stressing the accountability that everyone on the team needs to have," said Nedeau. "For us to be as strong as we can be, we need to be able to race as a team where every person matters. It's a good learning experience for us." Nedeau's words proved prophetic at Tufts, where the emphasis on teamwork enabled several runners to have breakthrough races. Most notably, Mike Harbus '08 completed the course nearly two minutes faster than he had the previous year, and junior Rob Boley ran his best race thus far.
Women
Garrahan consistently turned in remarkable performances for the women throughout her first two years at the College-and she's been quick to prove that her third will be no different. Her decisive win at Tufts and third-place showing at the New England Open against 301 fellow runners, in particular, are worth mentioning. Even more promising, the women's team is not built only around Garrahan's ability but has a roster of young talent, including Heather Wilson '08, Nicole Anderson '09, Kim Partee '08 and Katie Moravec '08, that extends beyond the varsity seven to the subvarsity level and showcases itself consistently at meets.
"At our home meet, we placed five of our runners in the top six," Nedeau observed. "At UMass-Dartmouth, the sub-varsity really dominated their race, and at Tufts, the women had runners under 24 minutes for the 6k who weren't even in our varsity seven. It's a great sign of the team's depth."
If the women continue to perform as they have so far this season, Amherst will have an abundance of talent to represent the school at Nationals.
Men
Things are also looking up for the Amherst men. The Jeffs are ranked as the fifth-best Div. III team in New England, and they feel they can climb higher. "We're getting noticed for performing above the region's expectations for us," said co-captain David Schreiner '06. "And I think we can run even better than we did."
Morrissey has led the team in every race this season, and other notable contributions so far have come from rookie Harrison Lakehomer and Harbus. Juniors Richard Wilson, Rob Boley and Cooper Knowlton have all scored for the Jeffs. Knowlton, in particular, had a breakthrough race at the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational, while the Tufts Invitational saw Boley, Harbus and Lakehomer running at their best.
"They continue to impress," said Nedeau of the men's track record. "We were going to need them to step up this season, and they are doing just that."