2012 Season

November 18, 2012 – Williams Harriers score well at Nationals

The women’s team climbed the podium again, by virtue of a 4^th place finish in Terre Haute, Indiana in a field of the top 32 teams in Division III NCAA. Kaleigh Kenny and Adrienne Strait were once again the Ephs’ 1-2 punch, as they each earned All-American honors for the first time, with 16th and 28th place finishes, respectively, becoming the 224th and 25th Williams College female Cross Country All-Americans. Crucial places in the top 100 (out of 280 contestants) came from Shayna Barbash and Alison Smith (81st and 90th) with key fifth runner finish by Amelia Ortiz.

Results: http://results.deltatiming.com/xc/2012-ncaa-d3-cross-country-championships/results/2

The men competed well on the purpose-built X-Country venue in Terre Haute, to capture 12th place overall, 4th of NESCAC squads (the conference took 5 of the top 15 places). Chris Lee truly earned his first ever NCAA All-American recognition with a sensational race, garnering 18th place out of the 280 contestants. Chris becomes the 20th in a long line of Williams men All-American Cross Country runners. This week’s scoring pack was Max Laberge, Wade Davis, Aldis Inde, and Bijan Mazaheri, within 17 seconds of each other.

Results: http://www.ncaa.com/content/diii-xc-results-0

November 11, 2012 – Purple Cross Country places well at New England Regionals, advance to NCAA’s

The men improved on their NESCAC results by besting one of top seeds, Tufts, to take 4th in the team standings, and then garner an At-Large bid to the NCAA’s. Once again Chris Lee was our first finisher, placing 8th in 25:02 for the 8k course, with seniors Scott Rodilitz and Wade Davis also placing high, in 13th and 14th. Max Laberge captured 30th to also be awarded All-Region, and crucial 5th scorer finish of 48th place by rookie Bijan Mazaheri. Williams finished with 113 points, only 22 points from first place.

Results: http://www.westfieldstateowls.com/documents/2012/11/10/DIII_men.txt?id=4306

Another great team race put a good scare into MIT for the regional title, and though finishing 2^nd overall the team is ecstatic and poised for a great NCAA race next week. Kaleigh Kenny and Adrienne Strait moved up superbly in the latter stages of the race, and kicked it in very strong to secure 3^rd and 4^th places. Kenny’s time was 21:29 for the 6k course. Backed up by Brianne Mirecki and Louisa Lee, in a breakthrough race, in 17^th and 18^th and final scorer Shayna Barbash also All-Region in 33^rd place with a time of 22:25, the team scored 75 points (MIT 58, Middlebury third with 89, 51 teams competing).

Results: http://www.westfieldstateowls.com/documents/2012/11/10/DIII_women.txt?id=4306

November 4, 2012 – Ephs Grab Two Bronzes at ECAC on Home Course

For the second year in a row, Williams College hosted the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships at Mt. Greylock Regional HS.  Williamstown was spared from the worst of Hurricane Sandy’s destruction, so the course was in excellent condition for the 52 teams contesting the 31st (women’s, 28th men’s) edition of the DIII ECAC Meet.

In the men’s race, the Ephs lineup consisted of our “Second Seven”, or #8-#14 runners (except for one, so #15 got to race).  First-year Todd Ford ’16 led the charge, patiently positioning himself in the lead pack for the entire race and breaking away with the top 3 runners on the final push up the course’s big hill at the start of the last mile.  He ended up finishing 2nd after a great battle with Tufts #8 man in a very competitive time of 26:25, which would have put him in the top 10 overall at the Ephs earlier home meet, the Purple Valley Classic.  Behind him, the rest of the Ephs composed intelligent, tough races and moved up through the field in the last 2 miles to overtake Tufts and finish 3rd overall with 84 points!  Peter Drews ’14 capped off a spectacular fall campaign with 12th in 27:05 and an individual medal.  The rest of the scoring five came in 20th (Nick Wolf ’14, 27:21), 24th (Steve Mendoza ’13, 27:28), and 26th (Max Heninger ’14, 27:31).  Seniors Peter Watson ’13 and Brian Kirchner ’13 ran their final XC races as Ephs to round out our squad.  Amherst edged out Bates for the team title 44-54, and the Lord Jeffs ran several of their varsity top 7 runners.

Similar to the men, the Ephwomen were led by a first-year standout: Meg Richardson ’16, who like Todd Ford did her best to stay with the lead pack and race from the front, eventually placing 4th in 23:16, a 6K PR and over a minute faster than her Purple Valley performance!  Unlike the men, though, the women’s squad included our #11-#17 runners, 5 of whom were first-years, and 3 of whom were running their debuts at the 6K distance!  Thus, the team was overjoyed to garner 3rd place with 140 points, just ahead of rival Amherst and behind Middlebury and Tufts, who were running their #8-#14 runners (and one top 7 for Midd).  The Ephs scoring five had 4 first-years, with Borah Lim ’16 and Sophie Chatas ’16 having breakthrough performances in 21st (24:00) and 32nd (24:23), respectively.  Senior Blair Robinson ’13 shepherded the pack of first-years around the course for much of the race and concluded her Eph XC career with a solid 40th in 24:37.  Kathryn McNaughton ’16 was next in 24:52 for 51st, and Anna Ryba ’16 (25:06, 64th) and Emily Barreca ’14 (25:15, 79th) concluded Williams’ scoring.

The Ephs head to Stanley Park in Westfield, MA this Saturday for the New England DIII Regional Championships.  The top 2 teams automatically qualify for the National Championships the following Saturday, and up to 5 teams from each region can qualify with at-large bids.

Results: http://xc.tfrrs.org/results/xc/4354.html

October 30, 2012 – 6 Ephs Honored by NESCAC Office

By virtue of finishing as the top first-year in the men’s 8K race, Bijan Mazaheri ’16 was named NESCAC Rookie of the Year.  He beat out teammate Todd Ford ’16, who was the second first-year finisher.  Chris Lee ’14 was named First-Team All-NESCAC after placing 7th in a PR of 24:36.

Kaleigh Kenny ’14, Brianne Mirecki ’14, and Adrienne Strait ’15 earned spots on the All-NESCAC First-Team by finishing 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

Head Coach Pete Farwell received his second-consecutive NESCAC Women’s Coach of the Year Honor after leading the Ephs to their 12th title.

NESCAC Article: http://www.nescac.org/sports/xc/2012-13/honors/allconference

October 28, 2012 – Women Defend NESCAC Title; Men 5th in Fastest Race of Season

The women’s harriers ran their best race of the season Saturday, repeating as NESCAC conference champions with a low score of 45!  Our top three of Kaleigh Kenny ’14, Brianne Mirecki ’14, and Adrienne Strait ’15, moved strongly together throughout, putting distance on all but the 2 leaders, to take 3-4-5 all with significant PR’s as they went well under 22 minutes for the flat 6k course.  Our second pack finished 15-18-19-21-22-25 within 16 seconds of each other.  The Ephs’ depth was so dominant that they had 8 runners finish before any other team’s #4 runner.  Middlebury and Amherst were the next two teams with 71 and 107, respectively.

This sets the team up well for the Regional championship in 2 weeks (Nov. 10) to go against all of New England DIII and for a possible berth to nationals (we have qualified 19 years in a row). Our top 9 runners are 4 sophomores, 4 juniors, and 1 senior – a young team by most standards.

The Williams men’s harriers ran their fastest race of the season Saturday, competing at the 11-team NESCAC conference championship in one of the closest 5-way races for top teams in the meet’s history.  Going into the meet, the top 5 NESCAC teams were all ranked among the top 17 in the national poll.  In the end, Tufts won with 66 points, while Williams was 5th with 97, with not many seconds separating these top teams.  Over the flat 8k course at Bowdoin, racers sped around with an unprecedented 14 going under the 25-minute mark.  All but one of Williams’ top 8 set lifetime personal bests.  The Ephs were led by Chris Lee ’14 in 7th with 24:36, a 20-second improvement over his 2011 Regional time (held at the same course), and only 10 seconds from first place.  Lee made a bid for the individual title, surging to the lead after 3.75 miles and gapping the other contenders, only to have them chase him down with about 600m to go.  Next came the 3 senior captains in 25:04, 25:10 and 25:16, even though 2 of them got stuck in an early bottleneck and had to claw their way up through the pack.  The 5th man, junior Max LaBerge, moved way up to 26th in 25:18, and Aldis Inde ’15 made a huge jump to 25:25 (32nd place), giving us a 21-second spread from 2nd to 6th man!  Bijan Mazaheri earned NESCAC Rookie of the Year honors for being the first Freshman to finish, racing 25:43.  Second Freshman in the race was also an Eph, as Todd Ford clocked in at 25:56.  The top 8 Williams runners were 2 freshmen, 1 sophomore, 2 juniors, and 3 seniors.  The Ephs are excited for the Regional championship in 2 weeks (Nov. 10) to go against all of New England DIII and hopefully turn the tables on their NESCAC rivals for a possible berth to nationals (we have qualified as a team in 18 of the past 19 years).

Full Results: http://xc.tfrrs.org/results/xc/4513.html

October 25, 2012 – Check Out Video from This Year’s Alumni Race

Filmed by Max Heninger ’14 and Nathaniel Sutton ’14.  Edited by Max Heninger ’14.

October 21, 2012 – Class Photos from Home Plansky Invitational

Several members of the Williams XC Team capped off their fall seasons with a men’s 6K race and a women’s 5K on the home course at Mt. Greylock Regional HS in gorgeous conditions.  With high humidity and sunny skies, it felt more like south Florida than Williamstown in late October!  The men’s team defeated Fitchburg State in a dual meet, 24-33.  The women finished 2nd in a tri-meet to Conn College’s varsity, but they came on strong in the final 2k to outperform Fitchburg State.

After the race, the rest of the team was feeling giddy and posed for class photos.

Results: http://xc.tfrrs.org/results/xc/4697.html

October 13, 2012 – Williams Sweeps Little 3 Champs for 25th and 5th Straight Titles

Under sunny skies and an ideal temperature for racing, the Ephs had excellent races from top to bottom to capture the Women’s and Men’s Little Three Championships, held at Amherst College.  Little Three is the last meet in which the entire team competes in the same race,

The women kicked the races off with a flying start over Amherst’s fast opening mile.  Race leader Keri Lambert of Amherst came through in an eyebrow-raising 5:07 first mile split, while the Williams’ Alison Smith ’15, Kaleigh Kenny ’14, Adrienne Strait ’15, and Amelia Ortiz ’15 ran their own race and led the chase pack past in 5:35.  Brianne Mirecki ’14, Leslie Blackshear ’14, Shayna Barbash ’14, Celeste Berg ’13, and Louisa Lee ’14 followed close behind in the early continuous stream.  The women moved up and worked together in small groups during the challenging second mile in the meadow loop, which includes nice rolling hills and boggier conditions, including one 75m stretch of deep mud.  The front three of Smith, Kenny, and Strait passed 2 miles in 11:49, while Ortiz and Mirecki were just behind in 11:55.  Lee lost one of her shoes in the mud and stopped to put it back on before rejoining the race and gradually working her way back through the field.  Once out of the meadow, the women had just over a mile to go on a flatter, firmer woods loop, and the Ephs used the faster terrain to open up their strides and kick it in.  Smith distanced herself from the rest of the pack to finish a clear second in 19:10, while Kenny and Strait duked it out with a Wesleyan runner for 3rd, finishing 4th in 19:14 and 5th in 19:15.  Mirecki, Ortiz, and Blackshear sealed the team victory by cruising in together for 6th, 7th, and 8th just ahead of Amherst’s pack.  Berg, Barbash, and Lee came across as a third group in 12th, 13th, and 14th, and Lee’s last half of the race was very impressive after regaining her shoe!  First-years Meg Richardson ’16 and Anna Ryba ’16 completed solid efforts in 20th and 23rd, finishing with Eirann Cohen ’15 (22nd).

Women’s Score: Williams 24, Amherst 45, Wesleyan 70

Like the women, the men got off to a quick start, with the lead pack coming through the first mile in 4:48, led by 2 Amherst runners and including 2 from Wesleyan, as well as Ephs Chris Lee ’14, Wade Davis ’13, Scott Rodilitz ’13, and Max LaBerge ’14.  Starting more relaxed just behind them were Brandon Abasolo ’13, Bijan Mazaheri ’16, Aldis Inde ’15, Steve Mendoza ’13, Todd Ford ’16, Andrew Beaudoin ’15, and Peter Watson ’13.  Through the first meadow loop, the Ephs began to assert themselves, as Davis took the leaders by 2 miles in 10:07 with Lee and Rodilitz in tow.  Abasolo gradually worked through the field and came by in 10:11, with LaBerge just behind in 10:13.  In the team standings, Amherst had a slight lead through both the 1 and 2 mile marks.  Mazaheri was next in 10:27, followed by the large group of Inde, Mendoza, Ford, Beaudoin, and Watson in 10:32.  During the 3rd mile on wooded trails, Williams took control of the race at the front and throughout the scoring runners.  As they entered the meadow for the final time and 4th mile, the Ephs continued to build momentum and pull away from the Lord Jeffs and Cardinals.  Lee surged to the lead, hitting the 4 mile mark in 20:45 and gapping the other contenders.  Davis was next in 3rd place at 20:51, and Rodilitz remained with the rest of the former lead pack in 20:55.  Abasolo had regained contact with the front group by then in 20:57, but LaBerge trailed by a sizeable margin in 21:22.  Mazaheri gained ground on him in 21:42, and Inde (21:54) broke away from the large Eph contingent just behind.  Over the last mile, Lee extended his lead and won the Little Three individual title in 26:11!  Davis and Rodilitz were outkicked for 2nd, but gave the Ephs a strong 3-4 punch with the same time of 26:19.  Abasolo bypassed the rest of the former lead pack, finishing 5th in 26:23 and demonstrating once again his knack for working gradually through the field over the second half of races.  LaBerge completed the scoring by closing strongly for 10th in 26:58.  With 5 in the top 10, and 4 in the top 5, the Ephs earned a decisive victory.  Mazaheri was the first freshman in 27:15 for 13th, and Inde rounded out the top 7 with 18th in 27:29.  Mendoza nearly caught him in the last stretch, placing 20th in 27:31.

Men’s Score: Williams 23, Amherst 46, Wesleyan 61

After the meet, the team was treated to an excellent buffet lunch prepared by parents.  Thank you to everyone who came this weekend, and especially to those of you who helped prepare and set up the meal!  Next up, the Ephs host the Plansky Invitational this Saturday, October 20, with a Men’s 6K at 11:15 and a Women’s 5K at Noon.  This will be the final race of the season for some of the Ephs.

Full Results: http://xc.tfrrs.org/results/xc/4638.html

October 9, 2012 – Team Performs Quarterly Removal of Trash Along Highway

Seven Ephs took a break from their Reading Period studies to remove trash alongside Water Street (Route 43) in Williamstown.  The team participates in the Adopt-A-Highway program and collects trash and recyclables 3-4 times every year on one of the town’s most popular road-running stretches.

L-R: Kim Kiplagat ’16, Allie Rowe ’16, Asst. Coach Lance Harden, Nick Wolf ’14, Max Heninger ’14, Michael Navarrete ’16, Taylor Oddleifson ’15, and Scott Rodilitz ’13.

October 8, 2012 – Team Volunteers at Peace Valley Farm

Front Row (L-R): Brian Kirchner ’13, Yasmine Goelzer ’13, Anna Ryba ’16, Amelia Ortiz ’15, Daquan Daly ’16, Olivia Foley ’13.  Middle Row (L-R): Megan Steele ’16 and Meredith Sopher ’14.  Back Row (L-R): Bijan Mazaheri ’16, Chris Lee ’14, Matt Tarduno ’16, Steve Mendoza ’13, Brian Trelegan ’16, Greg Ferland ’16, Sam Woodbury ’14, Todd Ford ’16, Max LaBerge ’14, Brandon Abasolo ’13, and Peter Drews ’14.

For the fourth consecutive year, the Ephs took a break from their Reading Period studies to help Williamstown farmer Bill Stinson with some manual labor at Peace Valley Farm.  The farm is nestled just off of Berlin Road, one of the many dirt roads in town, where the team had been earlier this season for a workout!  Former runner Brian Cole ’11 works full-time at the farm, and, along with Stinson, organized the team to assist with pulling out metal hoops from the ground that had housed this year’s crop of tomatoes.  While they worked, Stinson educated the team on the workings of his farm, which has had its greatest-ever delivery of produce to Williams Dining Services this fall.  The students regularly eat Peace Valley’s lettuces, kale, leek, tomatoes, peppers, and squash in the campus dining halls.  The team was fortunate this year to have a beautiful, crisp fall day in the peak of foliage season and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to get their hands dirty!

October 7, 2012 – Williams Competes at 100th Edition of New England Championships

Williams traveled to Stanley Park on the campus of Westfield State on Sunday for the 100th running of the All-New England Championships.  The meet was relocated from its usual venue due to construction at Franklin Park in Boston, and some fellow NESCAC schools chose not to attend, but overall the meet lived up to its typical standard of excellent competition with most of the region’s top DI, DII, and DIII schools.  The Ephs will contest the DIII Regional Championships at Stanley Park as well, so the meet additionally served as an opportunity for the team to familiarize itself with the course.

Under cool, overcast conditions and firm footing, the Sub-Varsity Women’s 5K Race kicked off the event, and the Ephwomen showcased their depth by winning the team championship for the first time in school history!  Alison Smith ’15 tucked behind the lead pack until after the 2 mile mark before taking the lead up the final hill with about 3/4 of a mile to go.  She looked poised to take the individual title until the final stride, finishing 2nd in 18:12.  With strong kicks, Celeste Berg ’13, Louisa Lee ’14, and Eirann Cohen ’15 all cracked the top 15 in 18:36, 18:39, and 18:43, respectively.  Rounding out the top 5 was Anna Ryba ’16 in 19:05, who is really coming into form after an early season injury.  The rest of the group took advantage of the fast course and great conditions to achieve a slew of PR’s and are pictured below.

2012 All-New England Women’s Sub-Varsity Champions:

The Men’s Sub-Varsity group looked to continue the great momentum established by the women.  Many of the men, including all the first-years, were debuting at the 8K distance.  Several of them maintained a pace equal to or faster than they had run over the earlier 5K races this season!  Steve Mendoza ’13 led the group, racing tenaciously and passing many runners on the narrow trails in the woods loop and alongside the river in the 3rd and 4th miles.  Despite fading over the final 600 meters, he still finished 24th in a big PR of 26:15.  Todd Ford ’16 and Aldis Inde ’15 shadowed Mendoza for much of the race, and Ford used his great mile speed to open up his stride over the final grass loop to place 17th in 26:06.  Inde nipped Mendoza in the final straightaway for 23rd in 26:11.  Andrew Beaudoin ’15 followed up his strong Purple Valley race with another solid effort to finish 40th in 26:37.  With a measured, gradually increasing pace and flying finish, Peter Drews had his best race in 2 years to place 44th in 26:39 and complete the Ephs scoring 5.  The team earned 4th place, and all of the 12 men pictured below achieved PR’s!  In particular, Nick Wolf ’14 had a great day, dropping over 2 minutes off his best 8K time, skipping the 28’s entirely and nearly passing over the 27’s as well to run 27:01!

Some of the Men’s Sub-Varsity Competitors:

The Varsity squads battled through exposed roots, narrow trails, and a congested, competitive field.  The women’s race had a mid-pack pileup at the first turn on the course, but most of the Ephwomen made it through just ahead of it.  Amelia Ortiz ’15 was the first Eph into the woods loop after the mile mark, but she suffered from a side stitch after about the race’s halfway point and gamely did her best to hang on to the line.  Shayna Barbash ’14 also established herself well in the field but took a tumble in the woods and lost valuable time and rhythm.  Brianne Mirecki ’14, Kaleigh Kenny ’14, and Adrienne Strait ’15 passed Barbash after her fall and continued to move up through the field until exiting the woods with 800m to go.  All three had excellent finishes in the grass field with Kenny placing 35th in 18:10, Mirecki 39th in 18:12, and Strait 41st in 18:17.  Ortiz dug deep to earn 60th in 18:31, and Barbash recovered impressively to nab 73rd in 18:39.  Leslie Blackshear ’14 had a quick last mile to grab 85th in 18:45.  In the team standings, the women placed a respectable 8th.

Varsity Women:

The varsity men started the race conservatively relative to the rest of the field and found themselves in the back quarter of the pack, despite coming through the mile mark between 4:56 and 5:05.  Chris Lee ’14 and Wade Davis ’13 led the way and worked together to come through 2 miles in 10:08, before entering the woods loop and beginning their push to move up through the field.  Brandon Abasolo ’13 lurked not far behind them, and Max LaBerge ’14 guided teammates Scott Rodilitz ’13 and Bijan Mazaheri ’16 as they weaved through the heavy traffic in the woods.  Peter Watson ’13 intentionally laid off the brisk early pace to practice negative splitting and finishing strong.  Lee and Davis gained a lot of ground over the 3rd and 4th miles, and Lee let loose over the final grass half mile for an outstanding time of 25:08 and 30th place.  Davis was just behind in 39th and 25:15, as both runners came very close to their PR performances from last fall’s National Championships.  LaBerge and Rodilitz converted their early race restraint into devastating last miles and finished 65th and 73rd, in 25:34 and 25:37, passing Abasolo in the grass field, as he completed the team scoring with 78th in 25:41.  Mazaheri had a super 8K debut in 25:51 (88th), and Watson dropped significant time off his PR with a 26:12 to earn 135th.  Like the varsity women, the men placed 8th in the team standings and learned a lot about the nature of this year’s Regional course.

Varsity Men:

Full Results: http://www.neicaaa.org/XC/2012XC.html

The full squads now look forward to the Little Three Championship on Saturday at Amherst, as the men’s team seeks their 25th straight title and the women seek their 5th consecutive championship.

October 1, 2012 – Williams XC Concludes 100th Anniversary Celebration

This weekend, the Williams XC family celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the program, as the men’s team had their first official varsity season in 1912.  Over 200 alumni attended the weekend’s events, which included a Friday evening social at the Log, the annual Aluminum Bowl coed 5k race, a slideshow presentation at the ’62 Center, banquet dinner at Greylock Dining Hall, and Sunday morning run with the current team.  The slideshow was the centerpiece of the weekend, with many former coaches and family members in attendance, and alumni speakers from each era in the team’s past shared memories and insights from their time as Ephs.

The Aluminum Bowl saw a record 172 finishers, including alumni from 1962 to 2012, family members of alums, current Ephs, and former and current coaches.  Connor Kamm ’10 set a new Mount Greylock HS 5K course record in 15:37, breaking former teammate Macklin Chaffee ’09 in the last woods loop.  Chaffee’s time of 15:46 was also under the old record.

September 28, 2012 – Video of Purple Valley Classic

Filmed and Edited by Nathaniel Sutton ’14

September 26, 2012 – Team Conquers Mount Greylock!

Yesterday, the Williams XC team completed its annual workout run up to the top of nearby Mount Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts (3,491 ft).  Members of the team run threshold pieces with recovery breaks from 8 miles out (others start at 6, 5, and 4 miles out) on the steep, winding road that terminates at the beacon pictured below.  We were fortunate to have beautiful conditions this year with a panoramic view of mountains in NY, VT, NH, and MA.  The team celebrated with the customary and delicious post-run snack of cider donuts, apple cider, and fresh-picked Honey Crisp apples.

September 22, 2012 – Williams Sweeps Purple Valley Classic Varsity Races

Pleasant temperatures and firm footing greeted the 22 participating schools at this year’s Purple Valley Classic.  The Ephmen and Ephwomen had banner days, winning both the men’s 8K and women’s 6K team titles, as well as the JV women’s 5K.  In addition, Williams first-year runners took individual victories in the men’s and women’s 5K.

Kicking the meet off on a high note, Bijan Mazaheri ’16 blazed the course in 16:38, followed closely by teammate Todd Ford ’16 (16:51 and second place among official scorers).  In the same coed race, Kathryn McNaughton ’16 crossed the line as the first scoring female in 20:57.  Sophie Chatas ’16, Borah Lim ’16, and Blair Robinson ’13 came through just after in 6th, 8th, and 9th, having run much of the race working together.  Along with Allie Rowe ’16 in 23rd, the Ephwomen claimed the JV team title with 47 points!

Next up was the men’s 8K race, and the Ephs smartly bided their time on the first 2.5 mile loop, with Wade Davis ’13 leading the way in the front pack.  Scott Rodilitz ’13, Chris Lee ’14, Max LaBerge ’14, and Peter Watson ’13 worked together just behind the race leaders.  Lurking stealthily behind them was senior tri-captain Brandon Abasolo ’13 in his first race of the season.  Over the second loop, the top 3 Ephs Davis, Rodilitz, and Lee ran with the leaders before a major surge around the 4 mile mark broke the race open.  Rodilitz covered the move the best and finished a clear 2nd overall in 26:17, and he was followed by Davis in 6th (26:23) and Lee in 9th (26:36).  LaBerge held on gamely for 14th (26:49) after going out a touch too fast, and he was swallowed by a hard-charging Abasolo (13th, 26:48) in the final straightaway, who had one of the best negative splits in the field.  With the top 5 finishing in the top 14 overall, the Ephs handily took the team title with 39 points.  Peter Watson ’13 finished in the top 7 for the second straight meet (27:28), and Andrew Beaudoin ’15 (27:41) impressed in his first real 8K after missing most of last fall due to injury, using his 800m speed to obliterate the competition in the final 200m.

The women’s 6K served as the finale to an excellent day of racing, and it lived up to its billing, as the top 3 teams finished within 9 points of one another.  Like the men, the Ephwomen smartly settled into a reasonable pace just behind the race leaders.  Amelia Ortiz ’15 again led the way early, coming through 2 miles in 12:00 but well behind the speedy leaders.  She was followed by Shayna Barbash ’14, Brianne Mirecki ’14, Adrienne Strait ’15, and Kaleigh Kenny ’14 in 12:10, who packed together extremely well for the majority of the race.  Not far behind them was Alison Smith ’15, Leslie Blackshear ’14, Louisa Lee ’14, and Celeste Berg ’13, all of whom began to accelerate after the 2 mile mark.  In the end, the top 4 Ephs finished with a very tight spread, as Mirecki, Strait, Ortiz, and Kenny placed 10th, 11th, 15th, and 16th respectively.  Mirecki, Strait, and Kenny closed particularly well, passing several runners over the last 2 miles.  Barbash fought courageously to the line in 26th to seal the team victory with 78 points, barely defeating #1 MIT (83) and #2 Middlebury (87).  Lee ran the second half of the race exceptionally well in a breakthrough performance, finishing 45th in 23:44, one place and second ahead of Blackshear.

Official results: http://finishright.com/XC/12/WILLIAMSXC12.htm

September 21, 2012 – Junior Chris Lee Featured in NCAA Preview of DIII XC

“They came back to win it all”

September 20, 2012 – Williams Set to Host Purple Valley Classic

This Saturday, Williams welcomes a nationally-competitive field to Mount Greylock Regional High School for the latest edition of the Purple Valley Classic.  Along with the usual suspects from New England, Ohio Northern and Oberlin hail from the Great Lakes region and NYU and RPI will represent the Atlantic for an early season taste of inter-regional competition.  Among the DIII teams attending, 8 women’s and 6 men’s squads are ranked in the top 35 nationally, including the top-ranked MIT women.  DII powerhouse UMass-Lowell, whose men are currently #9 nationally, and DI Fordham will bring an additional layer of inter-divisional competition.

Nationally-ranked teams attending:

Women: #1 MIT, #3 Middlebury, #7 Williams, #11 Amherst, #18 Tufts, #19 Ohio Northern, #27 NYU, #35 Oberlin, receiving votes (effectively #36) Wellesley
Men: #8 Tufts, #9 Middlebury, #11 Williams, #19 NYU, #30 RPI, #35 MIT; DII #9 UMass Lowell

September 10, 2012 – Amelia Ortiz ’15 Named NESCAC Runner of the Week – Article

September 8, 2012 – Williams sweeps Vassar Invite: Men earn Perfect Score!

The Ephs kicked off the 2012 XC Season in fine form, winning the men’s and women’s team and individual titles at the Ron Stonitsch Invitational at Vassar College.  The men raced first over the infrequently-contested 6k distance.  They started conservatively at tempo and gradually increased their pace over the second half of the race.  The front pack of Cole Townsend ’15, Chris Lee ’14, Scott Rodilitz ’13, and Wade Davis ’13 caught up to early Eph leader Peter Watson ’13 and worked together to the line to sweep the top 6 places along with top first-year Bijan Mazaheri ’16, who finished strongly to nip Watson at the line.  Max LaBerge ’14, Henry Koster ’14, and Steve Mendoza ’13 led the second group to place 8th, 9th, and 11th.

The women’s 5k race started under ominous skies, and the women were soon greeted with a torrential downpour about 5 minutes into the race that only worsened as the race wore on.  Amelia Ortiz ’15 and Shayna Barbash ’14 took the early lead and settled into tempo pace like the men.  Ortiz found herself alone after the first mile and extended her gap all the way to the line, earning her first collegiate victory.  The chase pack of Talia Calnek-Sugin ’15, Brianne Mirecki ’14, Adrienne Strait ’15, Meg Richardson ’16, and Alison Smith ’15 worked well together and gradually moved through the field.  Calnek-Sugin had a fantastic kick to claim second, and the rest of the group placed 5th-8th and 10th.  Leslie Blackshear ’14, Borah Lim ’16, Kaleigh Kenny ’14, and Louisa Lee ’14 also finished with negative splits just behind the top group.