The women's top seven runners finished seventh against the 24 best teams in the nation, while Tomas Morrissey '08, the men's team's sole representative at the National meet, earned 19th place among 211 of the best runners in the country. The team's sophomores carried the day, with both Morrissey and Kim Partee '08 earning All-America honors. Morrissey and Partee were both 2004 NESCAC Rookies of the Year.
Morrissey crossed the finish line in 26:07, less than a minute after race champion Neal Holtschulte of Williams College broke the tape. Head Coach Erik Nedeau called it the best race of Morrissey's cross country career. "It was one of those races where everything you prepare for, and everything that you do at the crucial time, happens," said Nedeau. "Tomas was looking to make All-America and we came up with a plan as to how best to do that, where to be, when to move-and everything that he needed to do, he did, and things just fell into place."
"Tomas is now pretty much my hero," added teammate Margaret Ray '08. "He started at the back of the pack and kept moving up, and the finish was incredibly exciting."
On the women's side, Partee paced the Jeff squad, finishing the race in 23 minutes and crossing the line in 34th place. Junior co-captain Shauneen Garrahan followed 21 seconds later in 57th place. Heather Wilson '08 was 66th in 23:32, with Nicole Anderson '09 close behind in 73rd place with a time of 23:37. All team members finished under 25 minutes, with Caitlin McDermott-Murphy '09 in 86th, Ray in 144th and Zandra Walton '09 in 163rd. The race winner was Hailey Harren of Gustavus Adolphus College, while SUNY Geneseo was the women's team champion.
Garrahan, who finished eighth in the New England Regional Championships the week before, was plagued by a glycogen spike at the National meet. "Shauneen had been really worried about what happened at districts, where she suffered from low blood sugar, and tried to overcompensate, which cost her a chance at the national championships," said Nedeau.
With the cross country season over, most of the runners will be joining the indoor track squad in the winter. As for next fall, however, things are looking good for the team. Five of the runners who had never run at the NCAAs gained familiarity with racing at the national level, and all of the harriers who represented Amherst at the Nationals will be returning to the team in 2006. "The experience that the younger members of the team gained this season, together with the depth of the team, has us looking really strong," said Nedeau. "I believe it will be a truly great season."