Most recent meets first
Also click on the Sports Information XC Site for their information

NE Regionals - Nov 14th

Runners of the Meet - Daniel Murner and Ali Simeone

The teams headed to Cumberland, Maine to compete for an opportunity to continue their seasons. Competing on the Twin Brooks XC course - a challenging mix of terrain, ups and down and tight turns - that was the same course in 2005 where the men and women both qualified for Nationals, the runners dealt with not only stiff competition from the other teams in the region, but also with mother nature. It looked as though the rain would hold off but shortly before the start of the women's race, it started to come and would continue to get heavier but nothing would deter either team from making the trip to nationals. The women were the first off the line, and despite lingering effects from flu like symptoms earlier in the week by a couple of the women and losing another scoring runner to mono, they were able to step up again and deliver. The same team that seemed destined to be in a rebuilding mode this year after getting hammered by graduation losses in the previous two years, continued to get stronger and step up as they have gone from an unranked team to a Top 10 ranking and earned a return trip to Nationals with their 4th place finish. Sophie again led the team, but for the first time this season, was not at 100% and the lingering effects from a midweek bout with the flu had a significant effect on her performance but did little in the way of hampering her giving everything that she had, as she moved with the early leaders before falling back to finish 14th. The team, as they have all season, rallied as the trio of Ali Simeone, Melissa Sullivan and hallie Schwab got out hard, put themselves in great position and then fought hard to move up in the last mile as Ali and Sully would finish 17th and 18th, with Hallie coming in a few seconds later in 23rd - all four of them earning All New England honors. Mercedes Taylor and Sarah Daly worked together early, grew apart in the middle of the race but got close again towards the end as they finished 4 places apart while Keri Lambert got the nod for racing duties due to the loss of Christina Wong due to illness. The 4th place finish was enough for the selection committee as Amherst was given one of the at-large bids for the National Championships.

The women got the start of the rain, while the guys - running an hour later - were bearing the brunt of it, but it just made for tougher conditions which they thrive on. The guys got off the line very well and established themselves in great position and did not waste a lot of energy running through traffic. Daniel Murner got out right to the front, and Will Yochum quickly moved from the chase pack into the front pack, joining Murner at the front. Steve Corsello got out well and while normally having the company of John McGrail on his shoulder, knew that he would be doing it on his own as McGrail was still feeling the effects of flu like symptoms. Jimmy Swanson and Eric Holaday would run with each other around the middle of the race and coming in together, while McGrail and Kit Callahan would be a little farther back but racing well. In the trail portion of the race, the front pack went from about 12 guys to a smaller pack of 6-7 with Will and Murner very much in contention, while Corsello continued to race very well in the high teens, and Jimmy and Eric doing their best to close the scoring gap. With a mile to go, a Williams runner tried to make a move, and the race became one that would be decided amongst him, Murner and a Brandeis runner. Will was in 5th while Steve was still around 20th. In the final downhill stretch, the Williams runner made another move that seemed to open a gap but Murner was not done and kicked back to his shoulder and they battled to the wire with Murner grabbing 2nd - the best Amherst finish since Rob Mitchell's victory in 1997. With the top 3 at 2ns, 5th and 19th the team was able to lock up a runner-up finish when Jimmy and Holaday came through in 38th and 40th, while McGrail and Kit would come through in 64th and 89th. With it's 3rd Top 2 finish in the last three years, the team heads to Ohio for Nationals this weekend with hopes for a top 10 finish.

ECAC's - Nov 7th

Runners of the Meet - Kit Callahan and Keri Lambert

Williams hosted the ECAC Championships at their course located at Mt. Greylock High School, and while the "set" varsity was sitting out this meet to prepare for the Regional Championships next weekend, it provided an opportunity for those racing to have an impact in the scoring, find themselves up near the front of the race and enhancing chances for continued racing opportunities as either alternates or possibly racing beyond this meet. The day was perfect for racing, and for the first weekend in a while there was either no rain OR the ground was not sloppy wet from rain the day (s) before. The women were the first ones to get started, and unlike in recent weeks, they did not get out and establish some smaller packs as most of the runners got spread out with small gaps of space in between each, rather then trying to work together as they had been doing effectively in recent races. Shannon McKenna got out well and headed up towards the front with the rest of the team falling in behind her. After the first mile, Keri Lambert had moved to the front of the Amherst contingent, and about 10 meters back came Shannon, another small gap and Kristen Moulton, followed by a gap and Lauren Almeida and then Cara Giaimo, Elodie Reed and Melissa Pritchard. As they came out of the woods and turned back onto the athletic fields, it was clear that Middlebury and Williams had established a strong 1-2 in the team scoring while Amherst looked to be in good shape for the 3rd spot. Keri continued to lead the team, and everyone else was in similar order as around the mile and still with some blocks of space between them. As they headed into the toughest part of the course - the woods loop containing the bigger hills - Keri continued to look strong while Kirsten had closed the gap, moving into the 2nd spot for the team with Shannon in third and Cara and Lauren in 4th and 5th, and that order would remain through the finish with Keri placing 18th, Kirsten 20th, Shannon 21st, Cara 25th, Lauren 26th to finish the scoring at 105 and securing a Third Place finish. Melissa would finish 38th while Elodie struggled a bit, coming in 82nd.

The men's race lacked some of the up front power / depth that the women's race had, and the AMherst crew got out well, quickly establishing themselves right near the front of the race as they headed across the athletic fields. Kit Callahan and Andrew Erskine got out together, racing in the Top 6 and then would work throughout the entire race pushing each other to maintain their Top 10 positions. Travis Cohoon, finally returning to full health got out well, moving up near the duo of Kit and Andrew, while the gap behind him to the remaining runners started to open up a bit too much after the first mile as Geoff Ainslie, Adron Pitmon, Alec jacobson and Will Bell all had gotten out well but started to fall off the pace after the first time through the hilly woods section. As the runners came through the 3 mile mark, Kit and Andrew were still in the Top 10 and clearly helping to push each other, while in the chase pack about 10 seconds behind, Travis was in a tight pack of competitors and then behind him about 20-30 seconds back, Adron had started to try and move up through the race, with Geoff moving well with him. As they came out of the woods section the second time with about 800 left, Kit started to separate from Andrew and would kick home in 8th place, while Andrew would come across 2 places after, and Travis came through the chute 19 seconds later to place 17th and through 3 runners, the team was looking like they had a chance to grab a win but the gap from our 3rd to the 4th and 5th proved to be a little too big as geoff and Adron finished in the same time, placing 39th and 40th to close out the scoring at 111 and a 4th place finish. Will was a couple of seconds behind, while Alec came in another 10 seconds after that in 28:17.

NESCAC's - Nov 1st

Runners of the Meet - Adron Pitmon and Sophie Galleher

Trinity played host to the annual NESCAC Championships, with the race held on Sunday at the challenging Wickham Park in Manchester. The race was held on Sunday due to the Connecticut State Championship races that were held all day on Saturday (making the tough course a little bit tougher!). This was the first time this year that the teams were limited in squad size, with only the Top 12 runners competing in the race. The women got things started off, and certainly set the tone for the day. Sophie Galleher got out strong with the leaders, and shortly after the gun, she and about 5 others formed the lead pack that started to pull away from the rest of the field. Hallie Schwab, Ali Simeone and Melissa Sullivan were in the middle of the 2nd pack, with another strong pack of Amherst purple following behind in the 3rd big pack of runners. Shortly after the mile, the front pack, broke into a pack of four including Sophie while behind them the race started to strong out, with Amherst doing a great job of finding teammates to run with. Shortly after 2 mile, Sophie and a Tufts and Wesleyan runner had broken away as a three women lead pack and the race would be won by one of these three while at the same time, Mercedes Taylor had put in a huge mid race surge to catch up with Hallie, Ali and Sully, while Christina Wong and Sarah Daly were doing their best to close that gap. As the leaders came out of the woods and onto the field for the final 1k, the Tufts runner had started to open up a small margin on Sophie but as they crossed the road and headed up the uphill 200m finish, Sophie put her head down and charged into the lead and crossed the line first - the 3rd year in a row that an Amherst runner has won NESCAC's! Hallie was the next to cross, as she finished 15th and within 5 places and 13 seconds, the team had closed out the scoring as Ali would finish 17th, Sully 18th and Mercedes in 20th. Only 11 spots back came Christina while first year Sarah Daly rounded out the Top 7 with her 47th place finish. Similar to the 2-5 runners tight packing, the next group of runners came charging through the line within a few seconds of each other as keri Lambert finished 51st, one spot ahead of Shannon Mckenna while 7 seconds later came Kristen Moulton and Lauren Almeida with classmate Elodie Reed finishing the day in 70th. The women raced to a very impressive 3rd place finish - a big improvement from last year's NESCAC race, and continue to get better as the season progresses.

The men would traverse the same course that the women did, and then continue to add another loop out through the fields and back through the trail to the finish, and the course was made a little muddier from the women, but it was a good test of strength. Running without two scoring runners posed both a challenge and an opportunity for the team to step up. Daniel Murner got out well and went with the leaders, and shortly after the mile, the Hamilton and Williams runners started to pull away and he went with them as they opened up a big gap on the rest of the field. Will Yochum was near the front of the chase pack, while John McGrail and Steve Corsello were back around 30th with Jimmy Swanson and Kit Callahan around 50th. As the runners came out onto the field to go past the finish (a little shy of 4 miles) Murner was all alone in 3rd, while Yochum was in 5th as he ran with Middlebury and Tufts guy, and then a ways back McGrail and Corsello were trying to work through the mud and slowly moving up. Jimmy Swanson continued in 5th for the team with Andrew Erskine and Kit running 6 & 7, and behind them Adron Pitmon was having a very good race as he seemed to be moving up the best of everyone. Coming out of the woods for the final time, Yochum and Murner were running together, along with the Williams 2nd runner, but were not able to answer his move and then in the final uphill stretch, were passed by the Tufts runner as they finished 5th and 6th - both earning All Conference First Team Honors. John McGrail caught a Tufts runner up the hill to finish 17th, while Corsello also got a Tufts runner as he finished 20th, and Jimmy would close out the scoring in 42nd, with Kit and Andrew coming in a few seconds after him. Adron came through in 28:23, while Travis Cohoon, Alec jacobson and Geoff Ainslie worked together for most of the 2nd half of the race, and finished 72, 73 and 74, with Will Bell closing out the day with his 84th place finish. Despite Tufts putting in 6 guys in front of our 5th, the team was able to hang on to a 2nd place finish by a mere 2 points to help tie for their best ever NESCAC finish (finished 2nd in 2007).

Little Three's - Oct 24th

Runners of the Meet - John McGrail and Melissa Sullivan

Amherst played host to the annual Little Three Championship on Homecoming Weekend in front of a huge crowd - courtesy of the many parents, friends and alumni who were on hand to cheer. Mother Nature did all that she could to make sure that it was a true XC event as a soaking rain made havoc of the course as there were numerous standing water ponds, tons of mud and very slick turns that caused more then one fall, and no runner was spared of looking like a true XC runner caked in mud! The men got the racing started, and Daniel Murner moved into the lead and pushed the race from the front as Edgar Kosgey from Williams stayed right on his shoulder. Will Yochum returned to racing after a long lay off due to injury in September started out conservatively but kept moving up until he was in the front pack of Murner and Kosgey, and would finish 2nd with Murner in 3rd. John McGrail stepped up big time and raced great to finish 8th overall and 3rd for the team, where he has been 5th or 6th man the past few races. Steve Corsello came in 10th overall, but a few steps behind the Williams 5th runner, and Carlyle Eubank closed out the scoring in 12th place to cap the scoring at 35 but falling 10 short of putting an end to Williams Little three dominance as their victory stretched their most impressive streak to 22 years. Jimmy Swanson got out very hard and probably paid the price a little bit in these conditions but finished 6th for the team, while first year Andrew Erskine rounded out the Top 7 with his 20th place, just 2 spots in front of Kit Callahan who rolled up on several runners in the final stretch showing his huge kick. Geoff Ainslie, Alec Jacobson and Travis Cohoon came across the line a second apart from each other as Geoff used the speed in the last 100 meters to pull away to continue his incredible season of improvement from last year. Will Bell and Adron Pitmon finished back to back, with Adron getting his first true experience of racing XC at the college distance. Patrick Grimes had a strong finish to get close to the 28 minute mark, while classmate Eli Howe came in a few places later as both runners were in the Top 50. Dillon Buckley and Kevin Hanley each were under 29 minutes on the less then ideal day for racing, while Jack Seaver narrowly missed getting under by a mere 2 seconds. Ben Scheetz rounded out the day for the team as he nearly broke 30 minutes for the first time, despite being a true 800 guy using XC as a way to build his strength for the track season.

While it may have been the men who were the ones to give the Ephs a run for their money, it was the women who nearly stole the meet as they finished a mere 5 point behind the nationally ranked # 7 Williams squad. Hallie Schwab and Sophie Galleher got the race going right from the bat, and it was clearly going to be a fast early pace. The race turned into a 2 person battle in the last mile as Sophie and Wesleyan's top runner Ravenna Neville ran stride for stride. Coming up the final hill to make the last sprint, Neville had opened a 10m lead but Sophie came charging up the hill and the two battled all the way to a photo finish with the same time but Neville getting the nod. As exciting as that finish was, a few seconds later came a huge pack of Williams and Amherst runners, as there were 9 people who would finish within seconds of one another. Melissa Sullivan out kicked Williams #2 runner, while first year Ali Simeone likewise used her own finishing speed to get in front of Williams #3 and then Hallie came through in 12th with Christina Wong rounding out the scoring with a strong race to place 17th - getting under the 20 minute barrier, as did first year Sarah Daly who finished 20th overall and 6th for the team, with Mercedes taylor coming in just after her and rounding out the Top 7. Shannon McKenna, after getting the chance to "tempo" a race at NE's, was able to put on the spikes and gout out a little hard but fought the last mile to come through in 8th for the team and lead a trio of Amherst runners in 25,26 and 27th as Keri Lambert threw in a huge finishing kick to race by a Williams runner as did Kristen Moulton. Lauren Almeida and Melissa Pritchard came in together, having pushed each other in the last mile to crack the Top 12 for the team. Cara Giaimo worked with that pack for much of the race and finished just a few steps in back of them. Eliza Schalch, Rebecca Alizzi and Elodie Reed - battling a little something that left her a bit off from where she has been in recent races - came through just seconds apart and cracking the Top 40 while a few seconds back, Laura Zaccagnino and Abby Hopper each dipped under the 21 minute mark.Tri-captain Cate Knuff, despite an ailing knee injury that has hampered her training had a valiant race to finish her Amherst XC career, and Anna Hager chased her to the finish line as both runners were under 22 minutes, with Ellen Richmond coming in just after the barrier. Jamila Odeh knocked over a minute off of her time from earlier in the year on the course and Winnie Ma made her XC debut, as she battled shin problems for the better part of the season. When the dust had settled, and the results figured the women finished a very strong 2nd, giving Williams a much tighter race then they probably expected, and with each race, the team continues to get ever stronger and will now look forward to the NESCAC championships this weekend.

New England's - Oct 19th

Runners of the Meet - Steve Corsello & Jack Seaver and Melissa Sullivan & Kristen Moulton

Despite a bit of wind, the weather was great for racing - the drawback was that the rain that had fallen heavily the past 24 hours left the historic Franklin Park course very soft, slick and muddy and slowed times down a little bit from what they might have been in past years. In a strange twist, the men and women in both of the races finished in the same places as the Varsity teams finished 12th while both JV team finished in 8th place, and the varsity groups were also each the 4th place DIII team. The women got the day started, and set the tone for the day. Sophie Galleher was out in the lead pack and hung tough through out the race, as she came through in 13th place and was the 3rd DIII runner to cross the line, finishing in 18:20. First year Ali Simeone continues to race great as she just missed earning All NE honors (Top 35) as she placed 38th in a Franklin park PR of 18:43. Melissa Sullivan continues to show significant improvement from last year, as she just missed breaking 19 minutes on the challenging course but over 3 minutes from her time last year, while Hallie Schwab felt the effect of not getting out aggressively and spent a lot of the race trying to weave through traffic, and finished 4th for the team, a few spots in front of Christina Wong - who finished out the scoring for the team with her 19:35, despite still battling the effects of the plague that has run through the team in the past 2 weeks. Elodie Reed used a a big kick to mow down a lot of people in the last 200 meters, and coming in right behind her was Mercedes Taylor to finish out the day. In the JV race, the ladies who had not been factoring in the scoring were provided an opportunity to have that chance and they took advantage of the opportunity. The top five runners all packed in to a 20 second spread, showing the tight packing ability of the group. Kristen Moulton came through first for the team as she continues to have a stellar first year campaign and just got under the 20 minute mark - a first for her on this course. Just 3 clicks behind was classmate keri Lambert who stopped the clock at 20:00 on the money and cracking the Top 50. Another pair of first years came in a few seconds after, as Sarah Daly and Lauren Almeida - returning to race after a week hiatus - finished 5 seconds and 6 places apart, and both were followed by Melissa Pritchard who rounded out the scoring for the team with her 20:17 finish. Eliza Schalch and Cara Giaimo each bettered their times from last year in rounding out the Top 7. Laura Zaccagnino continued to drop her times, as she was under 21 minutes, while shortly after her was Shannon McKenna making her return to the lineup after a lay off due to injury, and Anna Hager who knocked well over a minute off her time from last year on the course.

The men competed well and some nice improvements from several people which will certainly benefit the team later on, and also saw the return of several guys who had been out of racing until Saturday. Carlyle Eubank showed that the effects of the cold that plagues him last week were a thing of the past, and finished 41st overall in a 25:37 to lead the team for the 2nd time this season. Daniel Murner did not get off the line very well and found himself buried behind about 200 runners after a mile, but was able to steadily work through packs of guys to get himself back into the top 50 by the end, and came through in 25:42. Steve Corsello, continues to step up this XC season as he had his best race yet running close to Carlyle and Murner the whole race, and finishing in 25:47 - well under his PR. John McGrail, Eric Holaday and Travis Cohoon all finished within 10 seconds of one another as McLovin ran well under his course PR, Holaday returned to the lineup after being out the last race due to sickness, and Travis continues to step up big time from last year. Andrew Erskine was a little flat after last week's great race but was still able to get in under 27 minutes. In the JV race, Jimmy Swanson returned to action for the first time this season as a foot injury had derailed the start but he showed that the time spent in the pool and gradually building back to the running have paid off, as he tempoed through in 26:24 - a time that would have put him into the Top 5 for the team in the varsity race, and will certainly help strengthen the team. Kit Callahan, racing in spikes as opposed to trainers for the first time in his illustrious running career, was able to get well under the 27 minute mark in finishing 2nd for the team. Will Bell, showing glimpses of the 4:16 miling form he possesses, had a very strong 2nd half of the race and just missed getting under 27 minutes - nearly 30 seconds faster then last fall. Geoff Ainslie and Alec Jacobson worked the race together from the first steps of the race and were separated at the line by 1 seconds, as G would finish in his best XC time ever and Alec was faster then last year. Patrick Grimes had his best race of the year, as he seems to be making the transition to XC and took his miling ability to the line and ran 27:31, while rounding out the Top 7 for the race, without a doubt, his best race of his college XC career was Jack Seaver. After just barely breaking 30 minutes last year on this course, he came through big time running 27:40 - over a minute faster then any race he has done to this point. First year Adron Pitmon got his feet dirty for the first time this season, as he tempoed through under 28 minutes finishing in the same time as Kevin Hanley - both in 27:52, while Dillon Buckley dipped under the 28 minute mark, finishing 2 seconds behind the pair. Eli Howe was just above the 28 minute mark - running 28:05, his fastest time of the yea and Ben Klein returned to racing for the first time since last fall, going 28:36 in his first race in over a year.

Keene State Invite - Oct 3rd

Runners of the Meet - Andrew Erskine and Abby Hopper

The teams headed north to Keene State to run in the Keene State Invitational for the first time, changing the complexion of the schedule this year. What was forecasted to be a lot of rain ended up being very light showers with a lot of water and mud on the ground but proved to be great XC conditions! The women got the day started in victorious fashion as they dominated the meet, placing all 5 scoring runners in the Top 10 led by Sophie Galleher's first cross country victory. Sophie took the lead from the start of the race and never looked back. First year runner Ali Simeone had a strong finish to grab 4th overall, with Hallie Schwab coming in right on her heels in 5th, and coming in as the next finisher was Melissa Sullivan who ran a 19:13 for 6th place. Christina Wong secured the final scoring spot for the team with her 9th place finish and closed out the scoring with a 25 point win. Mercedes Taylor in 11th had another strong race, while first year Elodie Reed would round out the Top 7 as she placed 16th overall and had classmate Sarah Daly hot on her heels. First years Kristen Moulton and Keri Lambert worked hard together, finishing back to back, as did Melissa Pritchard and Cara Giaimo who finished 30 and 31st. Rebecca Alizzi and Eliza Schalch each broke the Top 50, while in 55th was Abby Hopper who knocked a huge chunk of time off her personal best - just missing getting under 21 minutes. Continuing the strong pack running, Marlils Gnirke, Anna Hager and Laura Zaccagnino were separated by a mere 6 seconds, and the duo of Cate Knuff and Ellen Richmond came across 2 seconds apart and Jamila Odeh knocked nearly a minute off of her time from last week to finish the day for the team. The team did a great job of working the race with each other and doing a great job of looking for their teammates and feeding off of each other in the harder parts of the race.

The men were a little shorthanded (or footed) as they were missing a couple of their scoring runners, and another was battling the remnants of the cold that swept through most of the team last week but despite some absences, had a very strong meet. Daniel Murner grabbed the win (actually finished 2nd but the winner was an unattached runner and did not factor into the scoring) as he pulled away from a pack of 4 guys in the last mile and a half and cruised to a 25:54. Steve Corsello and Andrew Erskine did a great job of working off of each other in the late stages of the race and pushed each other to Top 15 places in 26:32 and 33. John McGrail finished 4th for the team with Travis Cohoon closing out the scoring with another sub 27 minute effort. Carlyle Eubank, one of the team's top runners in the first 2 meets showed the lasting effects of being sick, and struggled in as the 6th runner for the team but was able to stay in front of USM's 5th runner to help secure 3rd place while Alec Jacobson had an awesome race to finish 7th for the team, and was just off of his PR from last year. Geoff Ainslie and Dillon Buckley worked well in the race and then put on a fierce sprint battle in the homestretch in which G showed that he was the man and that Dillon needs to eat more soup. Kit Callahan raced past a pack of runners in the final stretch as he continues to have strong season and could be very dangerous when he decides to whip out the racing spikes rather then the big clunky trainers that he has been wearing. Will Bell showed some improvement from prior races and looks to continue to build strength and confidence, and Kevin Hanley and Eli Howe finished a few steps apart. First year Pat Grimes ran to a 28:41 while Jack Seaver finished up the day for the team with a sub 29 clocking. With open New England's next week, the team will be looking to not only compete against a great field but also welcome back some runners who have been absent thus far as well as hopefully have everyone back to full health.

UMass Invite - Sept 19th

Runner of the Meet - Geoff Ainslie and Ali Simeone

There is something to be said about being able to warm-up to the course from home and be able to get phenomenal competition, and having the opportunity to run at UMass Amherst provided just that. On a perfect day, both teams took advantage of great competition from DI schools UMass, Maine, Boston College, Vermont and UConn and finished in 4th place with the runners coming through with some fantastic performances. The men took a hit when an aggravated injury caused Will Yochum to step off the course at the halfway point, but Carlyle Eubank and Daniel Murner stepped up nicely as they worked well together, finishing 9th and 10th - just above the 26 minute mark. Steve Corsello, showing he is ready to bring is 4:15 miling credential to the XC course came through the chute in 16th overall in 26:27 with a hard charging John McGrail 2 places behind him in 18th in 26:32. Travis Cohoon and Eric Holaday finished 25th and 26th to close out the scoring, while first year runner Andrew Erskine solidified his first Top 7 finish. Kit Callahan, ran to his best XC race - and his first foray at five miles since being inspired by little brother Petey over the summer, and just missed breaking 27 minutes. Geoff Ainslie captured runner of the meet honors for the team with his impressive run, as he broke 28 minutes for the first time - and quite handily - while Will Bell and Alec Jacobson came in just steps after. In 46th place was first year runner Dillon Buckley, who narrowly missed breaking 28 minutes and classmate Patrick Grimes had a solid showing to crack the Top 50 and Kevin Hanley came in just above the magic number. Eli Howe hit 29:00 on the money while Jack Seaver finished out the day for the team running 29:09.

The women took their lesson from the guys, and knowing it could be a fast day, they came in ready for the challenge. Sophie Galleher got out hard with the early leaders through the opening mile in 5:40 and then hung on to finish 9th, nearly breaking 18 minutes. First year Ali Simeone, earning the coveted Runner of the Meet honors for her efforts, was the 2nd Amherst runner across the finish line as she placed 21st in a time of 18:41. Coming in succession in 26, 27 and 28th to round out the scoring, and all breaking 19 minutes were Hallie Schwab, Mercedes Taylor and Melissa Sullivan. Running 19:01 and finishing 31st overall, and 6th for the team was Tri-captain Christina Wong while rounding out the Top 7 with her 36th place finish in 19:19 was Elodie Reed. Our 8 through 10 runners were separated by only a few seconds as both Eliza Schalch and first year Keri Lambert each ran 19:34 and classmate Sarah Daly came across in 19:42. Also dipping under 20 minutes - for the first time ever - was first year Kristen Moulton, who did battle with a branch and lost on Thursday and was still bandaged up but managed to have a great race! Coming in just above 20 minutes were Melissa Pritchard and Rebecca Alizzi, and Cara Giaimo finished in 20:30 and Marlils Gnirke had her best XC race to date for the team, as she was well under 21 minutes. Tri-captain Cate Knuff continues to get stronger as she returned to racing for the first time in nearly a year, while finishing as a pack was Lauren Almeida, Ellen Richmond who took nearly 30 seconds off her old XC PR and Abby Hopper coming through in 21:29.

Amherst Invite - Sept 12th

Runner of the Meet - Kit Callahan and Mercedes Taylor

The teams got the 2009 campaign kicked off in victorious fashion as the women defeated Springfield and Wheaton, while the men won over Wheaton. Sophie Galleher who led the race for the first mile before Springfield's Amanda DiPaolo pulled away, led the way for Amherst as she finished 2nd overall in 19:50 with Hallie Schwab coming in 3rd. After a Springfield runner in 4th, the purple of Amherst rounded out its scoring as Christina Wong, and an ever improving Mercedes Taylor went 3-4 for the team and were followed by three first year runners - Ali Simeone, Elodie Reed and Sarah Daly - all finishing in the Top 10. Another pair of first year runners - Keri Lambert and Kristen Moulton, with Melissa Sullivan in the middle, went 11,12 and 13th and rounding out a Top 15 finish was Melissa Pritchard. The race was a great first one for the team, and despite the heavy training of the past 2 weeks the team showed a lot and as the season gets later could prove to be very exciting. Next week, when we head down the road to UMass Amherst, the ladies will get a chance to race in their spikes for the first time and get a better idea of where we are at.

The men's race was a very dominant affair, as the team