The men’s cross country team had a busy two weeks, competing in two major meets. Last Saturday, Oct. 8 the team traveled to Franklin Park in Boston to compete at the NEICAAA meet.
With only the top-seven runners allowed to compete in the varsity race comprised of runners from Division I, II and III schools, the team was split between the varsity and junior varsity races. In the varsity race, the purple and white finished in seventh place with 194 points. This finish is particularly impressive, as Amherst was the second highest placing Division III team, with rival Massachussetts Institute of Technology finishing in third place with 133 points. In the junior varsity race, the Amherst harriers were spectacular, winning with 87 points. Leading the Amherst harriers was once again Mohamed Hussein ’18, finishing in fifth place overall as the first Division III finisher in the 221-person field. The defending NESCAC champion finished 20 seconds ahead of the next Division III runner.
Following Hussein was Cosmo Brossy ’19, placing in the top-25 with a 24th place finish. Brossy continues his 2016 cross country success, as he has either placed first or second among Amherst runners this season. Finishing third among the Amherst harriers was Raymond Meijer ’17, finishing in 38th place.
Following Meijer was Craig Nelson ’18, finishing in 47th place, to be the fourth scorer for the team. Finishing out the scoring five was Steven Lucey ’17, finishing in 80th place for the second year in a row, showing his consistency. Following Lucey in the sixth and seventh non-scoring positions were Kristian Sogaard ’19 and Tucker Meijer ’19, in 96th and 191st places, respectively.
“It was a great day for racing, perfect weather and we got out fast,” Brossy said. “We moved up pretty well so I was happy with the results. Our varsity squad has some work to do, but it was really the junior varsity guys who shined through with Scott [Nelson ’18] leading the charge.”
Coming off its strong NEICAAA finish, the team competed this past Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Little Three Championships, hosted by Wesleyan. This meet pits Amherst against NESCAC rivals Williams and Wesleyan. Despite the smaller field, the purple and white raced well and placed second to Williams with 42 points, to the 25 points scored by the Ephs. Wesleyan rounded out the field by placing third with 74 points.
From the gun, Hussein led the 71-person field. Hussein, along with two Williams and one Wesleyan runner, separated from the rest of the field early on, leaving the team scores to ultimately be decided by the rest of the runners. Eventually, Peter Hale of Williams caught Hussein, and the Amherst junior placed second in the eight kilometer race.
After Hussein was Cosmo Brossy ’19, finishing in fifth place for the purple and white. With the top-four separating early on, Brossy fought for his place, just edging out the sixth place finisher from Williams. Following the sophomore was senior Steven Lucey in 10th place, continuing his breakout cross country season.
Following Lucey was a pack of Amherst harriers, led by captain Raymond Meijer ’17. Meijer finished in 12th place, were 12th through 16th places occupied by Amherst singlets, with Craig Nelson ’18, Kristian Sogaard ’19, Justin Barry ’18 and Scott Nelson placing 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th, respectively. Tucker Meijer ’19 and Jacob Silverman ’19 placed 18th and 19th, as the two sophomores both ran competitive races.
Though the Amherst harriers were unable to end Williams’ 28-year streak of Little three Championship victories, the purple and white have high hopes for the rest of the season. They will race rival Williams at the NESCAC championships and New England Regional Championships, the latter in which both teams can automatically qualify for NCAA Nationals by placing first or second as a team.
In two weeks, the Amherst harriers will travel to Waterville, Maine for the NESCAC cross country championships, hosted by Colby. Last year, Amherst placed second to Williams, and this year they hope to prove victorious.
