The cross country teams traveled to Williamstown, Mass., for the Williams College Purple Valley Classic on Saturday. Against stiff competition, the Jeffs fared very well, indicating that they are poised for a strong season. For the women, this is nothing new. They have picked up exactly where they left off last year-dominating their competition. The men, on the other hand, seem ready to make the leap from a good team last season to one of the best in the country this year. For both the men and women, this meet was the most serious of the year so far-a tough test against NESCAC competition.

Women

The women maintained their perfect season by winning their closest race to date, narrowly edging out Plattsburgh State University. "The race was very close, but a lot of people, including Sophie Galleher '10 and [senior captain] Kim Partee, had strong finishes and were able to kick down runners from other teams," said senior captain Heather Wilson. By passing opponents in the final meters of the race, Galleher and Partee placed fifth and 17th respectively, and propelled the Jeffs to a two-point victory.

Though Partee and Galleher's last minute heroics secured the win, it wouldn't have been possible without strong performances ahead of them. One of those came from Elise Tropiano '09, who finished second with a time of 22:04. "Tropiano had a great race as she battled Plattsburgh's Toni Wiszowaty, one of the top runners in the country," said Wilson.

Tropiano started the race resolved to stay with Wiszowaty and went out hard in the first mile. Though she eventually finished 12 seconds out of first, the consensus on the team is that she really proved something. "Her second-place finish led the team and shows that she will be quite a force to reckon with this season," said Wilson. The NESCAC concurred with Wilson's assessment, naming Tropiano Performer of the Week.

Wilson also ran well, finishing fifth with a time of 22:29, good enough to beat every runner from rival and host Williams. The other scorer for the Jeffs was junior Caitlin McDermott-Murphy, who finished 15th. Though they did not make Amherst's top five, Nicole Anderson '09 and Katie Moravec '08 added to the strong impression the team made by cracking the meet's top 25, as they placed 21st and 24th. The women did all of this in the absence of one of their biggest contributors, senior Meg Ray.

Ray, who is a fixture in the Jeffs' top five, was observing Yom Kippur and elected not to run.

Men

The Amherst men were also involved in a nail-biter, finishing second to Williams by just 12 points and edging third place Dartmouth College by only eight. Those three were clearly the class of the meet, as Middlebury finished 69 points behind Dartmouth for fourth place. For Amherst, this meet went a long way toward confirming suspicions that this might be a special season. "This race was significant because we put ourselves on the radar and showed the other teams that we are going to compete to be one of the best teams in New England," said sophomore Eric Holaday.

Holaday was one of several underclassmen who scored for the Jeffs, finishing 14th. He was joined by Daniel Murner '11 in fifth, Will Yochum '10 in sixth, and Florian Reichert '11 in 10th. Murner and Yochum ran together to lead the Jeffs, finishing only one second apart. The strong showing shouldn't be a surprise for either harrier. This was Murner's second week in a row leading the Jeffs and his second fifth-place finish of the year.

Yochum has been a pleasant surprise all year, leading the team in his first race and running well in a junior varsity race last week. The team knew Yochum would be a good addition, but he has made an impact that no one expected of a first-year. He is one of two rookies making such an impact; the other is Florian Reichert, who made his first appearance in Amherst purple on Saturday. "The [first-year] are really making their mark," said senior Rom Cabeza.

Reichert is a 25-year-old German who had run with the Jeffs in the first race of the year but was unattached because he was awaiting confirmation of his eligibility. He won that race and finished 10th in this one, and should only get better now that he has officially joined the squad. In Holaday's words, he "really helped us out."

Amherst needed such strong performances from young guns because both of the team's captains were incapacitated by illness. Junior co-captain Peter Foote was so sick that he was unable to compete this weekend. Senior co-captain Mike Harbus was somewhat more fortunate, as his ailment allowed him to run, but not up to his normal standard. Harbus had been a big factor in Amherst's two previous races, but struggled this week, finishing out of the scoring for the first time this year. Nevertheless, his participation was important to the team. "He toughed it out;" said Cabeza, "and demonstrated a lot of character."

Cabeza made a triumphant return this week, turning in his strongest performance in years. He had been bothered by a sprained ankle and ran two subpar races to start the year, but got his confidence back and finished strongly on Saturday, placing seventh among the Amherst men.

Amherst will rest this weekend in preparation for the beginning of the championship season. The Jeffs will be back in action on Oct. 6 in Boston for the Open New England Championships at Franklin Park where they will face competition from Div. I, II and III schools throughout the region.