November 17th, 2018 – NCAA National Championship
Despite sub-freezing temperatures and some wind, the course at Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winnecone, WI was in excellent condition for racing at the National Championships – firm ground, a mostly flat course with a few slight inclines/declines set things up for fast conditions.
The women came into the meet ranked 8th by the USTFCCCA. They once again ran with great poise and patience to move up through the race. At the halfway point of the race, the team was sitting in 12th place with 382 points. However, there was a lot of racing left to come, and the 3-5 pack continued to charge their way up through the field. By 5k the team had moved up to 9th place, with Emma Hermann now leading the way. They managed to pass Middlebury and Wisconsin-La Crosse in the last 1000m to end up 7th overall, largely due to a strong kick from Freshman Grace Dailey, who moved up 23 spots in the last 1k!
The Men were ranked 11th coming into the race, with hopes of moving up into a top-10 spot. As has been the case all year, Ryan Cox and Aidan Ryan quickly got themselves near the front of the race. The next pack of 3-7 runners were more patient and found their rhythm in the midst of the main pack. As the pace picked up at the front, the front group got smaller and small but Cox continued to hold on until suddenly the group was down to less than 10 runners. He summoned another strong kick to take 6th place overall in the race! Aidan Ryan finished 42nd, and then the next cluster of guys came right past the 100th place mark: Elias Lindgren (109th), Kevin LaFleche (128th), and Tristan Colaizzi (135th). The team took 8th place overall, with 300 points.
With that, the 2018 Cross Country season comes to a close! Both teams had fantastic seasons, welcoming a lot of new young faces to the top groups, and are loaded up with a strong group of returners next year.
November 10th, 2018 – NCAA New England Regional Championship
The NCAA Regional Championship for the New England Region was hosted by Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. While the course was pancake flat, heavy rain the night before made for some sloppy and slower conditions – luckily we’ve had plenty of practice running through mud this season!
The women lead off the day and executed what was likely their best race of the season up to this point. They ran patiently as the front of the race got off to an aggressive start, and moved up exceptionally well through the crowded field. In the second half of the race, they quickly closed the gap on the top two teams, and almost caught conference rival Middlebury. In the end, they came out 3rd place, only 7 points behind Middlebury and 28 points behind MIT. 4 Williams runner earned all-Region honors by placing in the top 35 – Emma Hermann (13th), Emily Harris (19th), Audrey Rustad (20th), and Sarah Tully (26th). Freshman Grace Dailey closed out the scoring in 37th.
The men followed the lead of their female counterparts with a great race of their own. They similarly did an excellent job of running as a team pack and moving up through the race. Ryan Cox and Aidan Ryan established themselves in the top group, and ended up finishing 5th and 6th overall (the top 1-2 pairing of any team in the race!). William McGovern fought hard to take 20th place, and served as a great guide for the following pack. Freshman Elias Lindgren was the next guy across the line in 26th, with Tristan Colaizzi right behind in 29th – all 5 scorers placed in the top 30 earning all-region honors, and the team placed 2nd overall which gave them an automatic bid to the National Championship.
With the women earning an at-Large bid to nationals, both teams travel next week to Oshkosh, Wisconsin to take on the nations best teams!
November 4th, 2018 – USATF New England Championship
In what has seemed like a rare occurrence this year, the Ephs were greeted by sunshine when they returned to Franklin Park for the USATF New England Championship. This meet has become a staple of the Williams schedule, bringing together a mix of collegiate and club runners from all around New England. Despite resting the top 8 men’s and women’s runners, the Ephs competed well to take 7th in the Men’s 10k and 8th in the Women’s 6k.
The men’s team was lead by Senior Jacob Kahrs, who came in 42nd overall with a time of 33:43. He was followed by sophomores Jake Lange and Sam Gilman, Senior David Azzara, and Sophomore Will Young. For many of that group it was their first time being in a scoring position for the team, and they competed well in a tough field.
While the men were carried by a group of veterans, the women’s group featured a lot of new faces gaining great experience. First year Abby Scott lead the way in 23:51, a 45 second improvement from her time on the same course last week. She was followed by fellow freshmen Sarah Jane O’Connor, Emma Tapscott, and Lauren Fossell, along with Sophomore Wyndom Chase.
The end of the Cross Country season continues to approach rapidly – this weekend we travel to Bowdoin College for the NCAA New England Regional Championships, where we hope to qualify both teams for the NCAA National Championships the following weekend!
Women’s Team
Men’s Seniors
Men’s Team
October 27th, 2018 – NESCAC Championship
For the first time ever, the NESCAC Championship was held at the historic course at Franklin Park in Boston, MA, hosted by Tufts University. The weather brought some race day schedule changes, moving the race times back two hours to escape the worst of the heavy wind and rain forecast for that day. The women were able to run under wet but relatively calm conditions, but the wind and rain picked up substantially during the men’s race.
The women welcomed Audrey Rustad back to the course, which helped the team rebound back up near the top of the conference. They took second place as a team, lead as usual by the trio of Emma Hermann (6th overall), Emily Harris (9th) and Rustad (10th). Sophomore Sarah Tully had a fantastic closing mile to take 20th place – Tully has continued each week to chip away at the gap between her and the top group, this week only coming in 12 seconds behind Rustad. Freshman Grace Dailey held on well despite a tough fall in the mud late in the race, finishing 28th overall as the 3rd freshman in the race. In the end, they edged out Wesleyan and Tufts to take a solid 2nd place behind Middlebury.
The men’s race was highlighted by the continued rise of junior Ryan Cox, who picked a great time to execute his first collegiate cross country victory. He found some speed to kick in hard the last 200 meters and hold off the other competitors. Aidan Ryan followed closely behind in 11th, and William McGovern was just outside the All-Nescac spots in 20th. The strength of the team’s depth showed right after William – Ephs took 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th to close out their top 7. The team took 2nd overall, edging Middlebury by 2 points (the difference was made by the 6th and 7th runners, who edged Middlebury’s 5th to solidify the team score). Elias Lindgren, the 7th Eph runner, was the top male freshman in the race and thus won the NESCAC Freshman of the year.
This Sunday, Williams will take the non-regionals team to the USATF New England Championships back at Franklin park, where the men will run the Championship 10k and the women will run the Championship 6k.
The women’s team strides out before the race
Tully, Dailey, and Fraser-Mines coming up to the 2 mile mark
The Eph Men’s pack charging to the finish lines
Cox wins the NESCAC title in a sprint finish
October 13th, 2018 – Connecticut College Invitational
In the final meet before the start of the Championship Season, the Ephs competed at the Connecticut College Invite at Harkness Memorial State park, a beautiful course right along the Long Island Sound. Over 300 athletes competed in both the Men’s 8k and Women’s 6k, with teams from all over the country coming to get some out of region competition.
The women toed the line first, missing a couple key runners to illness, but ready to compete nonetheless. As has become the trend, the Ephs were lead by the junior-senior duo of Emma Hermann and Emily Harris, who came in 9th and 10th overall. Each week, the next pair of Sarah Tully and Grace Dailey are inching closer to the top two, this week coming in 26th and 29th, just over 25 seconds back from Harris. The team welcomed some newcomers to the top 7 after that – Caroline Galo closed out the scoring in 42nd place, followed by Jaylan Fraser-Mines and Janelle Gowgiel. It was Galo and Gowgiel’s first time running in the top-7 this season! The team took 4th place overall in the meet, finishing as the 3rd NESCAC team.
The men followed the women, on a slightly muddy slick course. Ryan Cox lead the charge, making a strong move just before 3 miles and opening up a gap on the entire field. He was chased down in the end by a couple runners, but held on for 3rd place overall. Aidan Ryan followed not far behind in 11th, then William McGovern and Sam Wischnewsky. Those 4 have established themselves as a consistent top group, taking the top 4 spots for the team in every 8k this year. Behind them, the team has cycled through a slew of different guys. This week, Elias Lindgren came across as the 5th man, in 25th place overall, followed by Lucas Estrada and and Kevin LaFleche. The team took 2nd overall, narrowly losing to rival Amherst by 4 points.
After an off week, the Ephs head to Franklin Park in Boston for the NESCAC Championships on October 27th!
October 8th, 2018 – Community Service
With a 5 day “weekend” from the combination of Mountain Day and reading period, the Cross Country team took advantage of the time off from classes to give back to the surrounding community. We took part in 3 separate service projects on Monday, working with some awesome groups that do a lot to support the people of Williamstown and North Adams.
Helping with meal prep and food service at the Berkshire Food Project in North Adams
Lending a hand on the farm at Peace Valley Farm in Williamstown
Helping the Rural Lands Foundation to clear access to a historical site on Cold Spring Rd in Williamstown
October 6th, 2018 – Alumni Meet
This past weekend, following a beautiful Mountain Day celebration on Friday, we welcomed back over 50 alumni and their families for the annual Williams Cross Country Alumni Race. The alums arrived well prepared for the contest, taking substantial victories in both the men’s and women’s races – the male alums defeated the varsity 23-38, while the women’s alums had a perfect score of 15-50 over the current team. Peter Watson and Victoria Kingham took home the individual titles, in times of 16:27 and 18:18 respectively. More important than the outcome was the time spent together, reuniting alums with one another and sharing their past experiences with the present team members.
It also served as a great tune-up workout for the Eph runners as we prepare for the Conn College Invitational this weekend, our last meet before the post-season begins!
The alumni group – thanks for coming back!
Start of the race!
September 29th, 2018 – Saratoga Invitational
The Ephs took on some inter-regional competition this past weekend at the Saratoga Invitational, hosted by RPI at the Saratoga Spa Park. Both the men’s and women’s teams posted strong performances, taking a pair of second place team finishes. The women – lead once again by Emma Hermann and Emily Harris – came in just 9 points behind St. Lawrence. Freshman Grace Dailey followed up her PVC 5k title from last week with another impressive performance, finishing as the 3rd Eph runner and taking 15th overall in the meet. Sarah Tully and Erica Barrett rounded out the top 5 for the Williams Women.
On the men’s side, RPI ran away with the meet, scoring 26 points. Williams finished a strong 2nd place with 65 points, well clear of 3rd place St. Lawrence. Aidan Ryan and Ryan Cox came in 3rd and 4th respectively, followed again by William McGovern and Sam Wischnewsky. Sam Gilman had the standout performance of the day, rounding out the scoring for Williams in 26th overall, his first time finishing in the top-5 as an Eph!
Complete results of both races available here.
Next week will be the annual Williams Alumni Meet at Mount Greylock HS, race starts at Noon – hope to see you there!
Sophomore Jaylan Fraser-Mines
Sam Gilman leads Sam Wischnewsky and Chris Avila
September 22nd, 2018 – Purple Valley Classic
The Ephs hosted the Purple Valley Classic this past weekend at Mount Greylock HS, and posted strong performances in all 3 races. The male and female teams in the 5k, composed primarily of freshmen, took 1st place overall as teams and also had the individual champions, Elias Lindgren and Grace Dailey.
In the varsity race, the men ran an impressive and confident 8k race, defeating some of their New England region competitors to take 2nd place overall, behind a very strong RPI team. Aidan Ryan, Ryan Cox, Will McGovern, and Sam Wischnewsky all posted top-10 finishes.
The women took 2nd place in the varsity 6k, helped by a strong lead pack of Emma Hermann, Emily Harris, and Audrey Rustad, who ran together for much of the race and finished the race in the top 13. They also took down some other great teams that we will see again at NESCACs and regionals.
Complete results are available here (note that the course differs from the typical Greylock course due to construction, so times cannot be accurately compared with previous years): https://www.tfrrs.org/results/xc/14581/Purple_Valley_XC_Invite
Aidan Ryan and Ryan Cox establish themselves in the front pack
Start of the men’s race, mountains in the background!
Sarah Tully leads a pack of Ephs with Brianna Bourne, Lindsay Klickstein, and Caroline Galo
September 15th, 2018 – Co-ed Relays
Another Williams XC tradition took place last weekend, the running of the co-ed relays. Pairs of men and women run a mix of 3k and 2k loops for a challenging workout and fun intra-squad competition. One of the highlights of the run is the costumes, which each pairing coordinates around a theme of their choice! Here’s a picture of the team gathered before the workout.
September 12th, 2018 – Mount Greylock Run
Here’s a picture from the finish of our Annual Mount Greylock Run. The team runs the full length of the 8 mile auto road to the summit of Mount Greylock, the highest point in MA. The mountaintop was covered in clouds this year – but we had a great workout tempoing through the fog!
September 8th, 2018 – Little 3 Championship
The Ephs traveled south to Amherst College for the Little 3 Championships this past Saturday, September 8th. It was a calm cool day, finally giving the runners some relief from the summer heat and humidity. Dry weather left the course firmly packed and ready for racing. The women raced a 4k and the men ran 6k, both a little shorter than the typical race distances, which provided an opportunity to shake the rust off of from a long summer away from racing.
The women lead off the day, reacting to a strong early pace set by the Amherst runners. Captain Emily Harris ‘19 and Audrey Rustad ’20 brought the team through the first mile, which was mostly downhill, in 5:33. They were followed by a strong pack of underclassmen. Through the second mile, the Amherst runners began to fade, but at the same time Wesleyan mounted a strong charge up the main hill on the course. Emma Hermann ’20 caught up to her teammates and formed a strong front pack of 3 Eph runners.
In the final kilometer, it became clear that it was a tight show-down between Williams and Wesleyan. With the top Wesleyan woman leading the race, and the 2-4 spots locked down by the Ephs, it became a battle between the two packs to take the edge in the final scoring positions. The sophomore duo of Jaylan Fraser Mines and Sarah Tully ’21 ran a smart, patient race and slowly moved up through the field, eventually taking the 4th and 5th scoring positions for Williams, and 11th and 13th overall in the race. Grace Dailey ’22 also managed to displace Wesleyan’s 5th runner, helping the Ephs pull out a close 3 point victory over Wesleyan, 30-33.
The men’s race got off to a more conservative starting pace, and Aidan Ryan ’21 (pictured below) took control of the field, establishing a 3 second lead over the field by the 1 mile mark. After passing the mile, a very experienced group of Amherst runners established themselves at the front of the race, attempting to maintain and eventually close the gap on Ryan. Lucas Estrada ’20 and Kenny Marshall ’20 pulled the Eph pack through the early part of the race, keeping them in close contention with Amherst. They were followed by 9 Eph runners within a 5 second spread at the mile.
As the race wore on, the Ephs managed to take control of the second pack in the race. Newcomer Elias Lindgren ‘22 had an excellent debut, breaking away catch a faltering Amherst runner and finishing 5th overall in the race. Ryan Cox ’21 came in right behind Lindgren in 7th. Not far behind, the stampede of Ephs came through, led by Sam Wischnewsky ’21 and Mitch Morris ’22. Much like their female counterparts, Wischnewsky and Morris managed to run patient races and moved up very well over the course of the race to snag the critical last two scoring spots and pull themselves ahead of the Amherst 5th runner. While it was not enough to unseat the reigning Little 3 Champion Amherst Mammoths, Williams gave them a good run for it, falling short by only 5 points in a score of 27-32.
Next weekend the Williams Cross Country team will enjoy a week off from competition, but will have the annual intersquad “Co-Ed Relays” on campus on Saturday. The next meet will be the Purple Valley Classic hosted by Williams College at Mount Greylock HS, which will feature excellent completion amongst many of the best Men’s and Women’s teams in New England!
