Women
Finishing first for Amherst was senior tri-captain Sophia Galleher, who has led the Jeffs all season long. Galleher completed the six-kilometer course in 21 minutes and 39 seconds. Her time was one second faster than that of second-place finisher Ravenna Neville of Wesleyan University, who out-leaned Galleher at the finish line in last week’s race. The victory marks the third consecutive year in which an Amherst woman has won the individual title at this race.
The next four Lord Jeff runners placed in the top 20 and completed the scoring for Amherst. Junior Hallie Schwab placed 15th with a time of 22:41, and first-year Ali Simeone followed two spots and five seconds later. Melissa Sullivan ’12 and Mercedes Taylor ’11 finished within the next eight seconds, claiming 18th and 20th place, respectively.
Amherst’s seventh finisher, freshman Sarah Daly, enjoyed the race and expects continued success for the team. “This was a classic cross country race: the longer-distance (6k) plenty of hills and a bit of mud. I think Amherst rose to the challenge to grab third place. It was great to team up and stand out in the NESCAC, especially as a start to the championship season.”
Only the top 12 runners from each team could compete in the race, and Amherst’s dozen harriers earned what head coach Erik Nedeau called “a very impressive third place finish and big improvement from last year’s NESCAC race.” Indeed, the woman’s team improved upon their fifth-place finish at the same race last year, this time earning third place behind Middlebury and Williams Colleges.
Simeone noted, “Though the course was mostly uphill and muddy, everyone had great performances. The NESCAC meet was a good indicator of how strong everyone has become over the season and how great we are looking for the races to come.”
“Hard work and teamwork will only help the pack grow tighter as we try to close the gap between our team and Williams going into ECACs next week,” added Daly.
Next weekend’s race at Williams will be at all 11 a.m. on Saturday.
Men
The men ran an eight-kilometer race over the same muddy terrain that the women had traversed. And although no Amherst runner could catch overall winner Peter Kosgei (who became the first man to win three consecutive NESCAC Championship individual titles), the Jeffs put together an impressive performance. The team’s improvement over its third-place finish from last year was quite noticeable.
Junior Will Yochum led the Jeffs with a time of 26:22 and fifth place overall. Senior tri-captain Daniel Murner finished just two seconds later. Juniors John McGrail and Steve Corsello crossed the line next for the Jeffs with times of 27:18 and 27:25, respectively. Both men finished in the top 20. Jimmy Swanson ’12 placed fifth for the team with a 42nd-place finish in just under 28 minutes.
The team finished ahead of everyone except Williams College, who scored 40 points to Amherst’s 88.
Kit Callahan ’10, who finished sixth for Amherst just 10 seconds after Swanson, said, “I thought the team ran very well. Despite having a couple of key guys out for various reasons, Will Yochum and Dan ‘that short little kid from Kentucky’ Murner put on a great show and both ran very well.” Always the jokester, Callahan added, “Continuously improving, John McGrail, whose distinct gait resembles that of a zombie, worked with the well-dressed Steven Corsello to place 17th and 20th respectively. In a heated battle for top fifth, Jimbo ‘Jowls’ Swanson managed to beat out [first-year] Andrew Erskine and myself, coming in just under 28 minutes.”
Expect the Jeffs to keep having fun and make a serious effort to finally bring down Williams College next weekend. The men will race in the ECAC Championships next Saturday, Nov. 7, at noon.