The Amherst women’s cross country team traveled to Waterville, Maine this past weekend, and managed to steal fifth place in the NESCAC championship. This result comes after Amherst managed a commendable fourth place finish at the championships in 2015.

After competing against high-level division I and II teams all fall, the purple and white had seen their fair share of formidable opponents. However, at a tournament as highly competitive and unpredictable as the NESCAC championship, Amherst needed to put forth their very best race of the year just to place.

Rookie of the year, Katherine Treanor ’20 continued her dazzling debut with a third place overall finish and time of 22:53.45. She finished just behind a pair of sophomores from Middlebury and Tufts, respectively. Abigail Nader pulled away with a time of 22:33.77, but it was a race until the very end between Treanor and the Jumbos’ Natalie Bettez, who only finished ahead by .92 seconds.

Next across the line would be Nicky Roberts ’18 in 21st place with a time of 23:40.96, followed by senior Cara Lembo in one of her final matches in Amherst purple. Lembo earned 31st place with her swift time of 23:56.90.
Amherst’s final scoring runners, Savanna Gornisiewicz ’17 and Veronica Rocco ’19 both landed top-50 finished, getting 37th and 47th place, for respective times of 24:05.39 and 24:25.42.

This would be enough to award Amherst with 132 points and a fifth place finish, just behind the Middlebury Panthers. As predicted, powerhouse Williams ran away with the title with a score of just 47 points, good for a 25 point win over second-place Tufts.

The purple and white will continue the latter part of their season on Saturday, Nov. 12 at Westfield State for the New England Regional Championships, an event at which the top-two finishers will automatically qualiify for Nationals.