Both the men's and women's cross country teams started the seasons strongly this weekend as the Jeffs hosted and dominated the Amherst Invitational. The Jeffs proved to be the class of the meet as both the men and women cruised to victory in the 5,000-meter race.
Women
The women turned in a business-like performance to open the 2007 season, for which they have set lofty goals. "The meet was a good start to a season that we hope will bring much success," said Katie Moravec '08, who finished second overall with a time of 20:21.6.
Moravec led a pack of seven Amherst runners. Last year's NESCAC Rookie of the Year, Sophia Galleher '10, finished within 12 seconds of Moravec. Following Galleher were Elise Tropiano '09, senior co-captain Heather Wilson, Nicole Anderson '09, and seniors Laura Mortimer and Meg Ray.
Despite unusually hot weather and a week of intense training before the race, several other Jeff harriers posted very solid times. Junior Caitlin McDermott-Murphy was one of two upperclassmen to pace a group of newcomers. Murphy finished 14th, just ahead of first-years Kristen Ballinger (17th) and Hallie Schwab (18th). Catherine Knuff '10 also led a pack of first-years. Christina Wong '11, Mercedes Taylor '11, Melissa Pritchard '11 and Cara Giaimo '11 all finished within 20 seconds of each other.
"The team looked really good," said Moravec. The Jeffs won the meet easily even as some of Amherst's best runners held back a little to pace the group. Winning the meet by over 60 points, the women's cross country team has begun to pave the road for another successful season.
Men
The men's race was also led by an Amherst pack, as the Jeffs took the top five spots in the meet. Newcomer Florian Reichart won the race with a time of 16:33.8, but ran unattached as he awaits approval to officially join the Jeffs. Reichart is a 25-year-old German TA who is now taking a full class load. "Having Florian … is going to improve the team a ton," said senior co-captain Mike Harbus.
Less than a second behind Reichert was first-year Will Yochum who, along with Harbus and sophomores Carlyle Eubank and Daniel Murner, rounded out a top five that was separated by less than four seconds.
Unlike the women, the men were not coached to run in a pack, but "it kind of materialized midway through the race and as soon as we all realized we were close together," Harbus said. "It bodes well for the future that the pack from one to five was so tight. Hopefully we can keep that consistently throughout the season."
Yochum was a particularly pleasant surprise. "[He] has been training really well, and we expected him to do well but he exceeded expectations even considering how well he's been training," said junior captain Peter Foote.
Foote also had a good race, finishing 14th with a time of 17.21.1, only seconds behind ninth-place finisher Eric Holaday '10. Not far behind those two were sophomore Steven Grigelvich and first-years Peter Harrison, John McGrail, Kevin Hanley and Ben Mears. "The freshman class looked good," said Foote.
Senior Romulo Cabeza says he is poised for a strong season, but did not finish due to a sprained ankle. He says the injury is minor and he could be back next week.
Foote admitted this was "a low-key meet to get things started, but it's a confidence booster to have people up at the front our first race."
With new additions such as Yochum already factoring heavily in the scoring, and a solid returning team from last year, the Jeffs could certainly be a force in the NESCAC this season.