Men's XC Wins NESCAC Title

Manchester, CT-- It was a great day to be an Eph at the NESCAC Championships. Williams Men's XC won the team title by eight points, scoring 51 points to take home their 19th overall NESCAC title. 

Offiical results linked here.

Although it was a beautiful and sunny day for late October, the heavy rains of the previous week took a toll on the course. According to Elias Lindgren '23, "the conditions were great all the way down to ground level. At ground level they were terrible and sloppy, but that's real cross country. As is often the case, when it's a sloppy day, stuff happens. We had a guy lose a shoe, we had a guy take a fall, and they really toughed it out; we got the team win, which we were really proud of." Coach Mary Nolte also spoke to the team's perseverance through the adverse conditions, saying "everyone approached it with as positive of a mindset as they could. Knowing that the conditions were bad for everyone, they focused on things they could control." 

Despite the unforeseen challenges of the day, head coach Pete Farwell also said that the men ran with "muddy grit." He spoke to the team's strategy going into the meet, saying that their intentions were for "our top guys to run a more relaxed race, and stay in a pack with the other guys to increase our depth up front rather than stringing out." As reflected by their approach to the race, what mattered most today was not individual times or places. According to Farwell, "the NESCAC is where we go for a team championship. We were able to show the depth of our team." 

Elias Lindgren and Grahm Tuohy-Gaydos were the first pair of Ephs to cross the line, placing 3rd and 4th overall with times of 25:11 and 25:12, respectively. Next to finish were William Spollen in 25:34 and John Lucey in 25:37. The next Williams finisher was Charles Namiot, with a time of 26:01. Simon Kissam was close behind in 26:03. Nate Lentz (26:54) and Grant Gattuso (26:55) rounded out their top eight. 

The next race for the men's cross country team will be November 13th. They will return to Harkness Park in New London, CT for the NCAA Division III Mid-East Regional.