New London, Connecticut -- The Ephs returned to the Connecticut College course this weekend to claim a dominating victory over the Mideast Region teams. With a team score of just 59 points, the regional championships proved a resounding testament to the strength of the team going into the final stretch of the season. Beyond punching a ticket to the NCAA DIII National Championship race, the full seven of the Williams team came across the line before the top five of any other team. And once again showcasing the depth of the team, the Ephs had the smallest 1 to 7 spread of any team, a difference of just 1 minute and 14 seconds. By contrast, second place RPI had a 1 to 7 spread of more than double that, at 2:48 minutes.
First-year Kate Tuttle led the team, running a time of 21:08 over the 6k course. Positioning herself strategically at the beginning of the race, Kate worked her way up throughout the race. Kate came across the first race marker at 1.65k in 8th place and steadily picked off the competition, coming across the line in fourth. "It was so amazing to win Regionals by such a big margin and get the big Q for nationals next weekend. I can't wait to see what we can do on the national stage!", Kate enthused.
Teammates Kate Swann and Tamar Byl-Brann were next across the line with times of 21:36 and 21:37 respectively and finishing 10th and 11th. Working together and running consistent races, Tamar and Kate both established their positions in the top 15 in the first 2k of the race and held them to the end. "It was very nice to have raced at the course earlier this season, so we were all able to approach it with more confidence," Swann commented on the resounding victory. "We continued to do a great job running in packs, pushing and supporting each other through the race."
Captain Nora Johnson and first year Lily Yampolsky rounded out the Ephs' top five for the regional championships with impressive 15th and 19th place finishes and times of 21:55 and 21:58 respectively. Illustrating the Eph's gritty racing strategy, both Nora and Lily either kept their positions established at the start of the race or gradually picked off competitors. Finally, Charlene Peng and Jordan Liss-Riordan scored 25th and 28th place finishes with times of 22:12 and 22:22 respectively. Both cut down 7 to 10 places from the beginning of the race a racing strategy that enabled the team to score such a thundering victory.
"The women were really strong from one to seven today," Eph head coach Dusty Lopez said of the win, "We always want to be a good team in the second half of the race and today they just took control right away. It was great to have a full team effort and we are excited to see what we can do at nationals."
"The spirit of the team is high and determined going into the NCAA Championship. "I think Terre Haute is the cross country capital of America, so it will be lots of fun to race on the first course made for cross country racing," Kate Swann enthused "I am thrilled to see what we can accomplish at that meet. We have had such an amazing season overall, and I think today was a good learning experience for many of us. We can use this race to better approach nationals. We have a lot of good energy going into this next week, so I think it will be really rewarding to see the amazing things we can accomplish when we continue to work together."
Currently ranked by FloTrack #2 in the nation for DIII Women's Cross Country, the team will race next on November 21st at the NCAA DIII Championship in Terre Haute, Indiana.
