Men
Led by third through fifth place finishes by Dillon Buckley ’13, Gus Greenstein ’14 and Romey Sklar ’15, respectively, the men’s cross country team took first place at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship, held at Williams last weekend. The victory marked the first team win for the men’s cross country team this season, and the first ECAC victory in program history.
With the Jeffs’ top three runners resting for Regionals this weekend, on top of New England bragging rights, the meet also served as a race for the final four spots on the seven-man team competing this weekend at Westfield State.
Buckley and Greenstein led the field for much of the eight-kilometer course, finishing third and fourth with times of 26:30.63 and 26:42.07, respectively, but Tufts’ Sam Haney and Williams’ Todd Ford passed Buckley and Greenstein in the race’s final quarter-mile to grab the top two spots in times of 26:22.86 and 26:25.78, respectively.
Sklar finished next, crossing the line at 26:51.90, while first-year Dan Crowley took 15th (27:08.87) to grab the final All-ECAC spot and also a spot as an alternate this weekend.
Senior Alvaro Morales’s 17th-place finish secured the victory for the Jeffs, whose 44 team points topped Bates’ 54 and Williams’ 84. Charlie Reighard ’14 and Eli Howe ’13 rounded out the Jeffs runners with times of 27:26.60 and 27:39.66, respectively.
The Lord Jeffs top seven runners will return to action this Saturday, Nov. 10 at the NCAA Regional Championship, hosted by Westfield State.
Women
As the top-seven Lady Jeffs rested in preparation for NCAA Regionals this weekend, the younger and less experienced members of the women’s cross country team traveled to Williams to race in the ECAC Championship. Led by first-year Anna Burglund’s 22nd-place finish (24:00.85) in the six kilometer course, the Amherst women took fourth place overall in the race.
After Burglund, Abby Hopper ’13 finished 28th (24:13.10). Next for Amherst were Jessie Kaliski ’15 and Amy Dao ’14, finishing neck-and-neck with times of 24:19.37 and 24:27.43, respectively.
Rebecca Alizzi ’13 took 50th in 24:47.45, while Keelin Moehl ’16 rounded out the Amherst scoring with a time of 25:10.54, good enough for 71st. Junior Lisa Walker was the last Jeff competitor to cross the line, taking 81st with a time of 25:18.67.
The Lady Jeffs’ 157 total points were nearly enough to find themselves on the podium, but NESCAC rivals Middlebury (31), Tufts (63) and Williams (140) proved too much in the 41-team event.
Running independently, Drew Univ.’s Jennifer Van Wingerden won the race in 22:54.65, while Middlebury’s Lucy Whipps took second overall, and first as a team-competitor, in 22:57.21.
This weekend, senior All-American Keri Lambert — coming off three-straight wins — will lead the top Amherst runners at Westfield State for NCAA Regionals. Lambert enters the race as a favorite, with hopes of not only qualifying for the National Championship, but also winning the race outright.
