The men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Williamstown, Mass. last weekend with hopes of bringing home two Little Three Championships. Thirty mile-per-hour winds and a storm of Williams runners quickly brought an end to that dream, however, as both the men and women had to make do with second-place finishes.
Women
Senior Elise Tropiano was unquestionably the Big One at Little Three’s. The senior quad-captain was faster than the wind. She blew through the 5-kilometer course in 18:38, beating the next closest competitor—a meandering purple cow—by 13 seconds. But Tropiano had to wait quite some time to see another Lord Jeff cross the finish line. It took 1:26 for the next Amherst runner to cross the line. That, in the running world, is an eternity, and the Ephs took advantage, putting 11 runners in front of the Amherst number two and thus enduring the windy conditions to breeze their way to the Little Three title.
It was senior Zandra Walton who finished second for the Lord Jeffs. The New Yorker is renowned for her mid-distance prowess, but showed off some impressive lungs for her best team finish of the season. A deluge of Amherst runners followed her across the line. Senior quad-captain Nicole Anderson led Hallie Schwab ’11, Sophie Galleher ’10, Christina Wong ’11, and the impressively-named Laura Zaccagnino ’12 to the finish. Although this Amherst pack was a case of too little, too late, it was enough to carry the Lord Jeffs past Wesleyan. Amherst finished with 51 points to Williams’s 24 and Wesleyan’s 64.
Senior Liz Dalton was philosophical after the dispiriting weekend. “Little Threes was definitely a disappointment for us,” she said. “I think many of us did not race as well as we could have, but I’m still confident that we can turn things around at NESCACs next weekend. We just have to stay focused and remain confident that we are a strong, talented team.”
Men
The Amherst men had visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads going into this weekend. After beating Williams last weekend, the team felt ready to put an end to the Ephs’ 20-year monopoly of the Little Three title. The dreaded purple cows mooed over those dreams, however, finishing with 21 points. Amherst ended the day with 48, while Wesleyan finished third with 71.
The day was not without its positives, though. With his floppy hair blowing willy-nilly in the New England wind, Will Yochum ’11 finished in third place with a time of 26:29 on the 8-kilometer course. Like the women, however, the Amherst men had no response to Williams’ ability to pack it in.
The second Lord Jeff to cross the line was Eric Holaday, who had a day to remember. His time of 26:46 propelled him to his best team finish of the season. After Holaday, senior tri-captain Harrison Lakehomer led Daniel Murner ’10 across the finish line. Rounding out the top seven for Amherst were Jimmy Swanson ’10, junior tri-captain Carlyle Eubank ’10, and John “Holy” McGrail ’11. A bright spot for the Lord Jeffs was number-eight finisher Steve Corsello ’11. The sophomore helped push his teammates and put himself in position to contribute to Amherst’s postseason run.
Head Coach Erik Nedeau delivered a harsh verdict on the weekend’s race, but was not without optimism. “Perhaps it was a case of getting too pumped and excited for the meet that left us rather flat, or looking a little too far ahead in the schedule,” he said. “But whatever the reason, we got beat up pretty good. Hopefully it will be a good wake-up call for NESCACs this coming weekend.” That NESCAC race comes next Saturday at Bates. Both the men and women will be hoping to rebound from the disappointing weekend and challenge for a spot on the podium.