Women
The women raced six kilometers for just the second time this season. Although the team finished behind Middlebury and Williams Colleges, several Amherst runners impressed with their strong individual performances.
“The day was perfect for racing, and, for the first weekend in a while, there was neither rain nor a sloppy, wet ground from rain the day(s) before,” said head coach Erik Nedeau.
First-year Keri Lambert was the Jeffs’ top finisher in 24:26, which was enough to secure 17th place overall. Kristen Moulton ’13 and Shannon McKenna ’12 finished eight and sixteen seconds later, respectively.
“Although the Williams course challenged us with several large hills, we were blessed with great weather and an awesome view of the mountains,” said Moulton.
Next to finish was junior Cara Giaimo, whose time of 24:49 earned her a spot in the top 25 overall. First-year Lauren Almeida crossed the line just one second later to round out the scoring for Amherst at 105.
Amherst’s sixth and seventh finishers were Melissa Pritchard ’11 and Elodie Reed ’13, who ran 25:29 and 26:23, respectively.
Reflecting on the overall team performance, Moulton mused, “As a whole, our team had a great performance at ECAC’s. The meet really showed our team’s depth as we placed third in a large field of competitors. Spirits are high as the team looks forward to Saturday. There should be great competition as well as a fun trip to the LL Bean store!”
The women will race again next Saturday, Nov. 14, in the NCAA Regional Championships at the University of Southern Maine.
Men
The men raced the usual eight kilometer distance and again found themselves looking forward, not backward, at the Williams harriers. The Ephs won the race, followed by St. Vincent College, Bates College and Amherst. The Jeffs however placed ahead of 39 teams.
Junior Kit Callahan led the Jeffs, finishing in exactly 27 minutes and earning eighth place overall. Andrew Erskine ’13 took 10th place just eight seconds later. The third Jeff to cross the line was junior Travis Cohoon, who secured 16th place with a 27:27 time.
Also cracking the top 50 in a field of nearly 300 runners was sophomore Geoff Ainslie (38th), first-year Adron Pitmon (39th) and senior William Bell (41st). Alec Jacobson ’12 was Amherst’s seventh and final finisher, crossing the line 54th overall with a time of 28:17.
Said Pitmon of the race, “I thought we raced well on Saturday. Kit [Callahan] and Andrew [Erskine] really stepped up to lead the team with their top 10 finishes. The team is running strong right now and is in a good position heading into next weekend. One of our goals from the start of the season was to qualify for Nationals, and we have a great opportunity to accomplish that goal next week against some very fast teams. Only the top two teams from the region will qualify automatically, so we have no margin for error.”
The Regional Championships will be next Saturday at the University of Southern Maine. The gun will go off at noon.