Both the men's and women's cross country teams performed even better than last year at last weekend's NESCAC Championships at Williams College. The women, who won a close race in 2006, blew the field away in an impressive title defense. The men improved one spot from third to second, clinching a spot at Regionals.

Women

There are not many ways left to say that the women's cross country team has been dominant this year. The Jeffs obliterated the field on Saturday, as half of the 12-woman team garnered All-Conference honors on their way to winning their second NESCAC Championship in a row. What would have been a remarkable showing for most teams was, for this year's team, merely expected. "One of the goals [Head Coach] Ned [Erik Nedeau] had given us was to put six runners on the all-NESCAC team (made up of the top 14 individuals) and we did just that," said senior co-captain Heather Wilson.

Wilson won her second race in a row by 18 seconds and was the only runner to break the 22-minute mark in the 6,000-meter event. She was followed for Amherst by senior co-captain Kim Partee and junior Elise Tropiano in sixth and seventh places, respectively. Those three were joined in the top 14 by Caitlin McDermott-Murphy '09 in tenth, Meg Ray '08 in 13th and Nicole Anderson '09 in 14th. Sophomore Sophia Galleher rounded out the Jeffs' top seven in 17th place. Of those seven, all but Anderson were essentially locked in for the team's seven-woman roster for Regionals before the weekend's race, but Anderson did her job on Saturday to claim the final spot. "Today was a big race for me," said Anderson. "I haven't had a really good race yet this year … so today's race was a promising start to the end of the season."

Ballinger began the year injured, but has been coming on strong lately, cracking the top seven for the first time last week at the Little Three Championships. She was eighth for Amherst and 23rd overall this week, and was immediately followed by fellow first-year Hallie Schwab, who also made a bid for a spot at Regionals before losing it to Anderson; both first-years, however, can look forward to distinguished careers over their next three years.

Men

Despite having what senior captain Mike Harbus called "one of the most talented men's teams we've ever had" at Amherst, the men have been consistently thwarted this year in their repeated efforts to beat Williams. Saturday, at the 8,000-meter NESCAC Championship, was no exception. "We finished second to Williams, and of course that sucks," said rookie Florian Reichadt, who placed second for the Jeffs and 12th overall. "The Williams squad is by no means better than we are, but we still need to perform well all at the same time."

The story of the meet-and perhaps the season-was first-year Will Yochum, who finished second overall and seems to improve with each race. Last week, at the Little Three Championships, he came in second to Williams' Edgar Kosgey. This week, he again confronted Kosgey in the closing moments of the race. "With 600 meters left," said Yochum, "I pulled even with Edgar Kosgey … Kosgey is known for his fast finishing speed, so instead of waiting until the final 100 [meters], I decided to surge pass him and open up as much ground as I could. I didn't look back and fortunately was able to hold him off." In the end, Yochum beat Kosgey by eight seconds.

Third for the Jeffs, in 18th place, was sophomore Daniel Murner, who has been one of the team's most consistent harriers this season. Carlyle Eubank '10 filled Amherst's fourth spot in 23rd place, who was followed by Eric Holaday '10 in 27th. They were joined in Amherst's top seven by first-year Ben Mears in 37th and senior captain Mike Harbus, who finished 45th. Though Harbus's race was undoubtedly solid, he is more talented than he has shown in his last three races, beginning with Open New Englands. He has improved each race since then, but if the Jeffs are ever to put together a perfect race this year, he will need to return to his September form, when he was consistently among Amherst's top three harriers.

Mears has also been improving with each race. His performance in the NESCAC Championships, on the heels of a strong showing at Little Threes, makes him a strong candidate for the Regional squad. "Mears has been training hard and has been running great in workouts, and after this race, I feel that he has clearly established himself as one of the top seven varsity runners," said Yochum. Yochum's prediction came true, as Mears was awarded the final spot in practice on Monday. Runners 7-14 for both the men and the women will compete at next weekend's ECAC Championships to decide who will claim the alternate spots for Regionals.

The men remain focused on improving. "We looked strong at NESCACs," said Yochum, "but I'm confident that we still have room for improvement in the next two weeks."