November 23, 2013 – Ephwomen Take 2nd at NCAA Meet with 2 All-Americans; Men 5th Williams Wins Overall Program Award with Highest Combined Team NCAA Finish. Brian McGrail ’14 Wins Rhodes Scholarship!

The NCAA finals in Hanover, Indiana were a great finale to a super season by Williams X-Country. On the men’s side several really stepped up to help the team secure 5^th place in the nation for Division III. It is essential to have high placing 4^th and 5^th scorers in such a competitive field of 32 teams plus individuals, totaling 280 racrers.  Aldis Inde ’15 was our 5^th man in 91^st place while sophomore Todd Ford ’16 had a flying finish to place 86^th as our 4^th man. Chris Lee ’14 got out in great position but struggled in the latter stages, still gutting it out for 70^th place. Bijan Mazaheri ’16 forged an exceptional race to contend for All-American selection, but just missed in the final kick, getting 41^st place, a scant 5 seconds from 35^th and the podium. Coin Cotton ‘15 ran in the top 15 for much of the race, but was barely outkicked by a small group and garnered 22^nd and well-deserved All-American recognition after a fabulous season.

The team racked up a score of 215, finishing just off the podium, but ahead of the other New England regional qualifying teams Middlebury (297 pts, 7^th), Tufts (446 pts 17^th), Colby (529 pts 22^nd), MIT ( 541 pts 24^th), and Bates (541 pts 25^th).

The women’s team continued to peak and put together an exceptional team effort, combining high-placing All-Americans with a close pack of super 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th scorers amongst the top Division III runners in the nation. Their final score of a scant 137 points earned them 2^nd place runner-up team, our highest NCAA finish since 2005, not too far back of season-long favorite Johns Hopkins, and again beating out Middlebury (3^rd, 185) and MIT (5^th, 261).

Kaleigh Kenny ’14 finished with a flourish moving from 12^th to 3^rd in the final kilometer, and nearly catching 2^nd. This capped off her Williams XC career in style. First-Year Hannah Cole ran exceedingly smart and also came up with a kick to catch a small pack down the stretch and garner All-American status in 29^th, while pacing partners Molly Belk ’16 in 39^th and Shayna Barbash ’14 in 52^nd were close behind. Brianne Mirecki ’14 made a charge after 2 miles and moved up into our 5^th runner position but faded just a bit in the final run-in (for 97^th), while Alison Smith ‘15 had her season’s best race, putting herself up in the pack and coming home strong for 73^rd, clinching the 2^nd place trophy for the team, while Lacey Serletti ‘16 in 113^th was the meet’s highest placing 7^th runner, showing our depth and talent throughout the lineup.

Full article is here: http://ephsports.williams.edu/sports/wxc/2013-14/releases/20131123az707o

Our women harriers have qualified for all 21 NCAA championships since 1993 (when NESCAC conference first allowed our teams to advance to finals) and have placed top 5 there 16 of those years, and in the top 2 an incredible 6 times! The men have qualified 20 times since 1993 and now have 9 top 5 team finishes.

On the same day as Nationals the Rhodes Scholarship committee conducted its final interviews, and announced that senior Brian McGrail was one of the 32 selected nationwide! A 4-year XC team member, who set a new PR this year by over a minute for the 8k, he has already achieved much in his collegiate academic and activity career, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading this article about him: http://ephsports.williams.edu/sports/mxc/2013-14/releases/20131125w2g7kl

November 16 – Ephs Sweep New England Regional for First Time Since 1998!

Led by the co-ed 1-2-3 punch of Kaleigh Kenny ’14, Colin Cotton ’15, and Chris Lee ’14, respectively, Williams captured the Men’s and Women’s DIII New England Regional Championships hosted by Southern Maine.  The women dominated the field with 4 runners in the top 10 and defeated Middlebury 44-57.  Inspired by the women’s exploits,  the men squeaked out a victory over Middlebury 77-78 with 4 strong All-Region performers.

On a fast course in outstanding conditions, Kenny pulled away in the last 300m to win her first Regional title in 21:02.  Cotton pushed eventual race-winner Michael LeDuc of Conn College all the way to the final straightaway, placing 2nd in 24:24.  Lee had his best race of the season, blasting away from the chase pack in the final 1200m to claim 3rd in 24:41.

Molly Belk ’16, Hannah Cole ’17, and Shayna Barbash ’14 worked together beautifully for much of the race, eventually coming in 7th, 8th, and 10th and all earning PR’s of 21:30, 21:33 and 21:38.  Cole dropped a full minute off of her 6k PR!  Brianne Mirecki ’14 sealed the victory for the Ephs, moving up masterfully over the last mile to snag 18th in 21:49.  Alison Smith ’15 earned a 6th All-Region honor for the Ephs by finishing 33rd in 22:14, a reward for her aggressive, attacking approach.  Lacey Serletti ’16 rounded out the lineup in 22:22, good for 41st.

Bijan Mazaheri ’16 nearly joined the sub-25 club, running another PR in 25:01 for 14th in a measured effort.  Aldis Inde ’15 continued his upward trajectory, nabbing 22nd in a PR of 25:17.  Max LaBerge ’14 did just enough to get the victory for the Ephs, crossing the line in 25:32 for 36th after a poor start and difficult time working through the congested field.  Peter Drews ’14 (45th, 25:51) and Peter Hale ’17 (57th, 26:00) similarly struggled to move their way through the pack without wasting valuable energy.

Both teams excitedly advance to the NCAA Championships next Saturday at Hanover College in southern Indiana.  With two superlative Regional performances, the Ephs know that they’re peaking at the right time to capture another strong result.

November 9 – Williams Men Go 1-2-3 to Win ECACs

Ocean breezes and salt spray must charge up our Eph runners, as for the second week in a row they excelled in competition at race courses bordering the sea, this time at Colt State Park in Rhode Island for the ECAC. Williams’ ‘Second Sevens’ peaked for this championship of over 50 teams, with the women (54 points) running a strong second to Middlebury and well ahead of third place Tufts, and the men besting the field with a minimal score of 26 (second place Tufts with 75).

Co-Captain Louisa Lee led our women in 4^th place in 22:55, with juniors Anna Spiers and Amelia Ortiz close behind in 7^th and 8^th 23:00 and 23:02, while First Years Emma Zehner and Maggie Peard took 16^th an 19^th out of 327 finishers.

An unprecedented 1-2-3 finish by Cole Townsend, Todd Ford, and Kieran Scannell (junior, sophomore, and First Year, respectively) in 25:43, 25:51 and 26:00 spearheaded an exceptional men’s team to the victory. They were ably backed up by David Folsom ’17 and Daniel Siegel ’15 in 7^th and 13^th. The men have now won ECAC 8 of the past 9 years.

Coming up on November 16 is the NCAA New England regional, hosted by Southern Maine in Gorham at Narragansett School. Our seven top Ephs of each gender will contest this championship and race to advance to the NCAA finals which will be held Nov. 23 at Hanover College, Indiana.

November 2 – Williams wins 14^th NESCAC title!

With a superlative team performance of patient running, perfect positioning and turning on the jets over the final 2 miles, our Ephmen moved up in the field throughout and captured the title in a close duel with Middlebury. Colin Cotton and Chris Lee ran like All-Americans within the front pack of the best in NESCAC and smoothed their way to 2^nd and 5^th finishes (24:42 and 24:57) as sophomore Bijan Mazaheri passed more top runners than anyone else in the race to give us 3 men in the top 10 as he set a big PR at 25:07 for 9^th place. Aldis Inde ‘15 made a strong move in the middle miles and held position over the final kilometer to be our #4 scorer in 17^th 25:28. And finally our depth proved it could excel, putting 7 finishers ahead of Middlebury’s 5th man to secure what was through 4 men an even-up battle. The final kicks of Max Laberge, First Year Peter Hale, and Peter Drews were phenomenal, closing them all to within 5 seconds of Inde, in places 18, 20 and 22.

Williams totaled the winning low score of 51, with Middlebury at 62, Tufts 103 followed by Bowdoin, Colby, Bates, Amherst, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Wesleyan and Trinity in that order.

The lady purple harriers gave Middlebury a run for the title and finished second by a 29 to 51 count, but well ahead of Tufts’ 3^rd place 90 score, and then Bates, Hamilton, Colby, Conn College, Amherst, Bowdoin, Wesleyan and Trinity in that order. Kaleigh Kenny displayed her championship form with a decisive victory after cruising out front of the pack and adding a strong kick to tie the 6k course record at 21:20. Fellow senior Shayna Barbash ran one of the best races of her career to take 5^th (21:46) and sophomore Molly Belk 9 seconds back took 10^th in the midst of a Panther pack. Final scorers were co-captain Brianne Mirecki 16^th (22:13) with her best of the season, and Lacey Serletti ’16 19^th in 22:19.

Our coaching staff is extraordinarily proud of the team’s training, spirit, and competitive savvy that has garnered them a victory and a runner-up in one of the best conferences in the country for Division III Cross Country.

Over the past weeks each gender’s group of 14 has trained quite well together to peak at ECAC with the ‘Second Seven’ on Nov. 9 at Colt State Park (RI), and the Regional for the ‘Top Seven’ Nov. 16 hosted by S. Maine.

October 26 – Williams Welcomes Alumni Home for Plansky Invitational

44 alumni/alumnae returned for the 44^th Annual ‘Aluminum Bowl’ romp around the hilly 5k course. Many proved very fit and all acquitted themselves well. The women were led by Lauren Philbrook ’09 with a 19:01 time for first place, with Nora Mitchell ’10 20:25, Lauren Goldstein-Kral ’12 21:29 and Emily Fertig ’06 22:10 next.  Connor Kamm ’10 forged a wire-to-wire victory in 15:43–just off of his 15:37 course record from last fall–to lead the alums to a 1 through 6 finish and perfect 15 point team score. He was backed up by Brandon Abasolo ’13 16:24,  Brendan Christian ’09 16:28, Anthony Raduazo ’12 16:40, Sean Hyland ’07 16:42, and Scott Rodilitz ’13 16:47.

The undergrads had wins in the collegiate competition by Anna Ryba ’16  20:03 and Henry Koster ‘14 16:53, leading the squads not in the NESCAC or ECAC to wins over Conn College, St. Joe’s (CT), Framingham State, and MCLA.

October 19 – Ephs Sweep Little Three Titles

Little Three Champions!  Our Williams men and women harriers ran great races at October 19^th Little Three meet, hosted by Wesleyan.  Williams women swept the top 11 places to record a perfect score, and had a spread of 22 seconds from 1-5, and a miniscule 43 seconds from 1 all the way to 11!  Kaleigh Kenny ’14 won in 18:32 with classmate Shayna Barbash next, followed by Molly Belk ’16, Hannah Cole ’17 and Lacey Serletti ’16, winning their 6^th Little Three in a row.

Senior Chris Lee cruised to his second Little Three individual title (25:54) and sophomore Bijan Mazaheri took 4^th, but the meet was clinched by three Ephs coming from well behind the Amherst pack to outkick them over the final 800 and then 300 meters: sophomore Todd Ford and First Year David Folsom took 5^th and 6^th, and senior Max LaBerge proved his comeback from injury is complete with a flying 9^th place finish. The final score was Williams 25, Amherst 37, Wesleyan 67 as Williams notched its 26^th straight Little Three title.

Both squads are now primed to train well over the next 2 weeks leading up to the NESCAC conference championship and bring our top 12 men and women into that meet all healthy.

October 15 – Team Provides Community Service Over Reading Period

Williams XC had a Community Service weekend where some helped out at a local organic vegetable farm, others prepared and served lunches at a ‘soup kitchen’ in nearby North Adams, and a crew did our periodic ‘Adopt a Highway’ road cleanup.

October 12 – Ephs Showcase Depth at Westfield State

Athletes who hadn’t run in the Oct 5 Paul Short meet showed our depth with the women winning the 37-team James Earley Invitational, hosted by Westfield State at the fast Stanley Park course, led by sophomore rookie Molly Belk in 18:37 to place 2^nd out of over 300 runners, junior Anna Spiers 19:06 in 6^th, and senior co-captain Louisa Lee 19:10 in 7^th.  In the 34-team men’s field our Ephs took 3^rd, led by senior co-captain Max LaBerge in 4^th in 26:09 and First Years Kieran Scannell and Nigel Bates in 18^th and 19^th out of a field of well over 300 runners, who each broke 27:00 in their first shot at the 8k.

October 5 – Ephs Test Themselves against Nation’s Best at Paul Short Run

For the first time ever Williams put the prestigious Paul Short Run on its regular schedule, racing in the elite Gold Section of 48 teams on Lehigh’s course versus primarily Division I competition, with 400 runners in each race. On an unseasonably hot day the men sped to an excellent team place of 17^th, first among all Division III squads, and the women were 27^th in their race, second among Division III. For the men Colin Cotton placed in the top 20 to earn a coveted t-shirt (20^th in 24:29), Chris Lee was 24:52 for 53^rd, and Bijan Mazaheri also cracked the top 100 at 96^th in 25:21. Aldis Inde and Peter Hale completed the scoring in 25:59 and 26:01.  In the women’s race Shayna Barbash took 100^th in 21:51, Kaleigh Kenny ran 22:07, and a pack of three completed the scoring: Lacey Serletti 22:28, Brianne Mirecki 22:30, and Hannah Cole 22:32.

September 28 – Williams Packs Up Well at Home Invite

Williams hosted its famed inter-regional Purple Valley Classic and came away with a 3^rd in the women’s 6k varsity, close behind Middlebury and MIT (38 to 43 to 46), and the men’s varsity 8k found the Ephs nipping Middlebury for 2^nd 59-60 behind MIT’s winning 41 score.

Senior Kaleigh Kenny won the 6k race in 22:19 for Williams with fellow senior Shayna Barbash next in 3^rd on the warm day. The next pack of seven moved up together and finished strong: sophomore rookie Molly Belk had a stunning first race ever, taking 13th, then junior Talia Calnek-Sugin in 14^th barely outkicking another sophomore rookie Lacey Serletti 15^th and First Year Hannah Cole 16^th.

After holding back for the first 3.5 miles, Colin Cotton cruised to victory in the men’s 8k at 25:56, with Chris Lee runner-up at 26:09. Bijan Mazaheri ran tough for 8^th in 26:28, while Daniel Siegel and Andrew Beaudoin closed out the Eph scoring in 22^nd and 26^th places.

In the 5k section First Years Maggie Peard and Emma Zehner took 1-2 in 20:09 and 20:15, nearly forty seconds ahead of the next place. Rookie ’17 Ephmen swept the top 5 spots led by David Folsom in a speedy 16:29 on the hilly course, with Noah Williams, Nigel Bates, Luke Hinz, Hiroshi Kirby, and Kieran Scannell all breaking 17:10.

September 14 – Ephs Take Montreal by Storm

Seeking some international competition, Williams journeyed to Montreal, Quebec for the McGill Invitational, facing off with some of the best runners from Canada’s universities. Only Western Ontario (3^rd in last year’s Canadian nationals) beat the Ephwomen, while the men were victorious in a nail-biter.  For the second time in three years, over 60 Ephs made the trek north for shorter distance races (4k women, 6k men).  The team toured the Old City after the race and stayed in a youth hostel Saturday night, before ascending Mont Royal for their Sunday morning long run.

All-American Kaleigh Kenny ‘14 led the women’s team with a 2^nd place finish in 14:34.  She held back for most of the race before unleashing a devastating kick to overtake the 3^rd place woman in the final straightaway.  Shayna Barbash ‘14 also cracked the top 10 with a 14:43 for 6^th   Hannah Cole ’17 (8^th 14:48) and Lacey Serletti ’16 (12^th 14:57) made their collegiate XC debuts in style, working together for much of the race and passing several opponents in the last half mile.  Brianne Mirecki rounded out the scoring in 14^th 15:05.

The men’s team was victorious by the slimmest of margins, tying Laval with 43 points but winning on the tiebreaker of best 5th man, the Canadian rule for dealing with ties.  Tri-captain Chris Lee ’14 led the tight-knit top Eph pack of Peter Hale ’17, Bijan Mazaheri ’16, and Aldis Inde ’15, who worked together for the majority of the 3-lap course and all finished among the top 11 between 19:12 and 19:20.  First-Year David Folsom proved to be a great competitor in his first Eph race, sprinting in to 17^th place in 19:34, most importantly 2 spots ahead of Laval’s 5^th man.  Todd Ford ’16 (19:48) and Cole Townsend ’15 (20:01) rounded out the top 7.  A second pack of Andrew Beaudoin ’15, Daniel Siegel ’15, Peter Drews ’14, Noah Williams ’17, Hiroshi Kirby ’17, and Matt Tarduno ’16 all finished within 6 seconds, taking 31st through 37th.

September 7 – Williams Kicks 2013 Season Off with Coed Relays

Williams opened the 2013 Harrier season at home with the fun, costumed Coed Relays, welcoming teams from Southern Vermont and Middlebury Colleges. Coed teams of two ran a partnered relay with the man completing loops of 3k, 2k, and 2k, alternating with the woman on her loops of 3k and 2k, for a total distance of 12 kilometers. Everyone got in a good workout and showed good fitness from summer training and plenty of team spirit!

September 5 – Team Heads to Savoy State Forest for Gorgeous Training

With a day off from classes, the Ephs were able to squeeze in a field trip to nearby Savoy State Forest, complete with several ponds, waterfalls, and miles of hilly, scenic trails.  Afterwards, runners enjoyed a feast beside the water, while others took a dip or threw the frisbee around.

Men’s First-Year “Top 8”:

September 4, 2013 –  Preseason begins with a four day running camp in the wilderness of Vermont and New York and continues with training close to campus.