KEENE, N.H. - The Williams College men's cross-country team earned a big victory on Saturday morning at the Keene State Invitational, running fast times on the flat 8k course and edging out NESCAC rival Tufts by one point.
A deep Ephs squad placed four runners in the top seven, with the team's fifth-place finisher, Malcolm Oakes, beating Tufts' number five by two spots, which was the difference in the race.Â
Williams' team score was 31, Tufts had 32, and third-placed Colby finished with 89 points. The large field had 277 runners finish, and the Ephs were first among 26 teams.
"We accomplished our team goals today," said Head Coach Dusty Lopez. "All week, we focused on being assertive early in the race and the group did that well. The women continue to look very deep and strong, and the men made a great statement by coming back to beat Tufts, an excellent team that got the better of us two weeks ago. Both teams are set up well for this point in the season."
Nikhil DeNatale was the first Eph across the finish line in third place overall with a time of 24:29, followed by Rick Yanashita, Eli Welch, and Luke Zanuck were next in fifth, sixth, and seventh, with Oakes closing the team's top five. All but DeNatale finished with personal bests at the 8k distance.
Beyond the top five, a big number of Ephs finished with PRs, taking advantage of the course and ideal conditions. Senior Blake Biever, junior Ethan Striff-Cave, sophomores Emil Nelson, Jackson McFerron, Zachary Liu-Walter, and Charlie Dybala, and first-years TJ Zwall, Liam O'Connor, Gavin Engtrakul, Andrew Kolenski, and Luis Angel Mendoza all set new personal bests.
Williams will be back at it again next weekend at the James Earley Invitational in Westfield, Mass., before previewing the NESCAC Championship course in Waterford, Conn., at the Connecticut College Invitational on October 18.Â
