The women took the team title in their race. The men placed fourth, behind first-place Trinity College, but ahead of fellow NESCAC rivals Tufts University and Colby College, who finished in fifth and eighth place, respectively.
The depth of both Amherst squads was evident as the remaining Jeffs had dominating performances in the sub-varsity races, allowing the Jeffs to win both sides easily.
Men
Starting off the morning, the sub-varsity men ran to victory with several promising first-years-Daniel Murner, Jimmy Swanson, and William Bell-leading the pack of Jeffs to the finish line in respective fifth through seventh places.
"Daniel, Jimmy and Will had great races in the JV race and are pushing for a varsity spot," said co-captain Richard Wilson '07. The spectators didn't have to wait long to see more promising first-years, as Carlyle Eubank '10 and Eric Holaday '10 rounded out the scoring in ninth and 10th place, respectively.
The men were not quite as pleased with their varsity performances, as some Jeffs did not race as well as they expected to on Saturday. Nevertheless, the squad pulled off a fourth place finish among 29 teams.
Tomás Morrissey '08 commenced the Jeff scoring in the five-mile race, finishing 13th place, followed by Peter Foote '09 in 22nd. Crossing the line together at 33rd and 34th were seniors Nate Freese and Cooper Knowlton. Wilson capped the scoring in 48th place. Rob Boley '07 and Mike Harbus '08 were the sixth and seventh runners for the Jeffs at 72nd and 97th, respectively.
"Unfortunately, the varsity men had a lackluster showing," said Wilson, "but winning the [sub-varsity] race showed how deep our team is. We are hoping to bounce back at Tufts next weekend after a down week in our training." The men will not let one sub-par race discourage them this early in the season, and they look forward to picking up the momentum and racing well against several NES-
CAC and New England squads next weekend.
Women
The varsity women won their race with 32 points, with NESCAC foes Colby College and Tufts University placing second and third, respectively. Co-captain Shauneen Garrahan '07 was 12 seconds behind the race winner, and Kim Partee '08 came in at third place right behind Garrahan. Two Colby Mules barely squeezed in front of Elise Tropiano '09 who placed sixth, while co-captain Heather Wilson '08 and Katie Moravec '08 concluded the Jeff scoring at respective ninth and 12th places. Just three seconds behind Partee was Meg Ray '08 in 16th, while fellow junior Laura Mortimer crossed the line in 23rd place.
"It's a fast course, and many girls ran to personal records, which was quite exciting since it's so early in the season," said Wilson.
A mix of experienced and rookie Jeff harriers took charge of the field in the women's sub-varsity race in the afternoon. The Jeffs finished their scoring before any other runners even made it to the finish line, with a perfect score of 15. Leading the group of rookie and sophomore Jeffs was Sophia Galleher '10, followed by Caitlin McDermott-Murphy '09, Zandra Walton '09, Rachel Cameron '10 and Liz Dalton '09. All five scorers finished the 5,000-meter course in less than 20 minutes.
"Winning both races was exciting because it shows that we have great front runners and also a lot of depth," said Wilson. With so much positive energy radiating from these early-season successes, the team has confidence that they can transform their bigger championship goals into reality later this season.
Next Saturday, the Jeffs head to the Tufts University Invitational, where they plan to repeat their defeat of the Jumbos and several other squads.
NESCAC Notes
The Williams College Ephs ran to victory at the McGill University Invitational last Saturday, and return to Williamstown to host the Purple Valley Classic next weekend, which will be attended by NESCAC opponent Middlebury College, among other regional teams.