On Nov. 22, Amherst’s cross country teams closed out their seasons at the NCAA Championship meet in Hanover, Ind. The men finished a disappointing 24th out of 32 teams while the women battled through adversity to finish 28th in a field of 31.

Men

The men’s race was the last ever cross country foray for senior tri-captains Harrison Lakehomer and Peter Foote. The pair revealed that they waxed nostalgic in the days leading up the big race. “We couldn’t help it once the emotions started to run,” revealed Lakehomer. “It was just one big maudlin mess. For the whole week, we spoke with flowery language, delivering panegyric after panegyric in order to pump up the team.”

In their senior showcase, Lakehomer and Foote did their best for the Amherst cause, finishing fifth and sixth for the Lord Jeffs on the 8-kilometer course. Lakehomer, however, was not pleased. “We could have been better,” he revealed with a post-race stolidity. But it was not all bad news for the Jeffs. Eric Holaday ’10 ran well and finished first for the team in 25:38. Not far back was Will Yochum ’11, who echoed Holaday’s sentiments. “Today was all about lionizing the seniors,” he commented.

Next across the line were Daniel Murner ’10 and Jimmy Swanson ’10. The pair finished within a half second of one another. Lakehomer rounded out the top five, while Foote was followed across the line by tri-captain Carlyle Eubank ’10, who battled through illness to finish the race. “I was lachrymose by the end of the race,” he said, “but I’m not sure whether it was because of pain in my body or pain in my heart.”

Despite all the emotions, Foote delivered a harsh verdict on the race and on the season. “The season wasn’t terribly successful overall,” he said, “but we did manage to establish ourselves as a consistently dangerous force within the region. We just never put together our best individual races on the same day.”

Coach Ned offered similar thoughts. “The guys kind of ran like they have been — more running than racing. While we have been fortunate to get some good results, NCAAs really hurt us as we ran pretty much the same way that we have been and finished a bit lower than I felt we were capable of.”

Women

The women had three seniors closing out their collegiate careers, all of them captains — Elise Tropiano, Nicole Anderson and Liz Dalton. “We just really did not want to vitiate the experience of nationals with a poor performance,” said Tropiano. And vitiate she did not. Tropiano ran a brave race, showing her robust vim to the rest of the country. The New York senior took the lead after the first mile and kept it until the final straightaway when a competitor from Bethel College offered a faster finish. Tropiano was not dudgeon after the 20:52 6k run. Her second place finish was the best ever by an Amherst runner at Nationals. She said with ebullience, “I just tried to go for the win by running away from the pack after the first mile. I thought I had it when I ran the last corner, but the winner’s kick was just too good ... It was bittersweet to come up short of the win despite it being my best placing at a national event ever.”

Anderson and Dalton also stepped up for the Jeffs, finishing fourth and fifth for the women. Both were a bit dolorous after the meet, since they could not share the experience with two of their fellow seniors. Quad-captain Caitlin McDermott-Murphy ’09 was kept from the race because of an injury while Zandra Walton was forced to miss the race because of an interview for the Mitchell Fellowship.

Finishing second and third were Sophia Galleher ’10 and Hallie Schwab ’11, who placed 72nd and 208th respectively. Rounding out the top seven were first-years Eliza Schalch and Shannon McKenna.

Tropiano was pleased with the team’s 28th place finish. “I think everyone on the varsity squad performed their best race under the circumstances,” she posited. Even though the cross country season is over, there is good news for all of these seniors. After a week or two off, indoor track season begins and competitive running will resume.

“It will be glorious,” offered the loquacious Foote.