Women
Sophomore star Ali Simeone was at the head of the pack, leading neck-and-neck with a Williams sophomore, Annie Dear, as she had done earlier in the season at the Purple Valley Classic. After a long, tough race, she again found herself the second runner across the line, finishing the 5K course in 18:31, less than three seconds after Dear crossed the finish line..
Two more sophomores — one Eph and one Cardinal — finished before the Jeff junior, Melissa Sullivan, who took fifth with a time of 18:52. Williams got two more women across the line who were followed directly by a trio of Amherst runners, filling up the top 10.
Junior Eliza Schalch, who had the best race of her career two weeks ago, maintained that form in taking third for the team and eighth overall with a time of 19:08.
Senior tri-captain Christina Wong followed right behind, finishing in 19:10 to secure ninth place, and freshman Tori Sosnowski ran a great time of 19:14 to take 10th.
The Lord Jeffs managed to squeeze their top five into the top-10 finishers in the race, but unfortunately, Williams took four of the top seven and 11th, which was too much of a deficit for the women to overcome.
The next 10 seconds or so featured a blur of purple, as runners 12-18 were all from either Amherst or Williams. Amherst showed off its depth as its sixth and seventh runners, senior Hallie Schwab and first-year Angie Epifano, came in 12th and 13th, a mere second after the Ephs’ fifth runner Tina Meade. Schwab was in her first meet after suffering a toe injury for the past several weeks, and should find her way back up the team roster as the season comes to a close.
“Our performance on Saturday was really encouraging because we were only six points behind the third-ranked team in the country,” said Wong, “and our top five runners came in before their top five runners. Scoring aside, our whole team raced extremely well on an individual level; I think the positive results of our tough early-season training are beginning to show.”
All in all, the mere six-point loss shows the depth and talent on the Amherst team, as they went toe-to-toe with a strong Williams force and certainly gave them a run for their money.
The Jeffs will next race at the NESCAC Championships at Hamilton College on Saturday, Oct. 30.
Men
The men came into the meet looking to prove something. Senior Will Yochum tore up the competition yet again, finishing first with a time of 25:51, a full three seconds ahead of Williams’ Josephat Koima.
Fellow senior Steve Corsello took third to boost the team’s momentum, and, had the men been racing with a full squad, the race might have turned out considerably different. Unfortunately, the next nine runners were a mix of Ephs and Cardinals, until senior John McGrail took 13th.
Senior Travis Cohoon and sophomore Patrick Grimes wrapped affairs up for the Amherst squad, finishing in 24th and 27th with times of 27:16 and 27:27, respectively.
Not far behind came a solid pack of runners, including junior Alec Jacobson and sophomore Dillon Buckley, who served as the team’s sixth and seventh men. They were closely followed by sophomore Andrew Erskine and senior Kevin Hanley, who took 35th and 36th overall.
But once again, the men found themselves racing without a couple of key runners, and they placed third with 54 points, after Williams wrapped up the meet with 35 and Wesleyan with 42.
“I feel that we have a top two that is as good as anyone else’s, if not better,” said Coach Ned Nedeau. “And we have the ability to race awesome in those next spots, but we need the guys to step up and do it in order to have a shot at making nationals.”
With one week to go until the NESCAC Championships this Saturday at Hamilton, the men will have to ready the entire squad and summon their best against rivals just as tough as their recent opponents. Certainly, they have the potential to take on any foes and come out victorious.