SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Williams College men's cross-country team finished 14th at the NCAA Division III National Championship in Spartanburg, S.C. on Saturday morning.
The Ephs competed hard in warm and sunny weather on the rolling hills of the 8k course, battling to the finish amid a competitive and fast field. The team was hoping things would come together for a top finish, but the conditions and the long season took its toll.
"It's a long season and some of the guys were a bit fatigued, and not feeling their best, but knowing it's the national championship, they're going to give it a shot," said Head Coach Dusty Lopez.
"On a good day, we're competitive with a lot of the teams in [the top 10], and today we were just off slightly enough that we dropped back a little bit. But nothing to fault in terms of effort or tactics or anything like that, just running low on fuel at the end of a long season."
Williams was led by senior Luke Zanuck, who finished in 63rd place with a time of 24:57. Just behind was sophomore Eli Welch in 75th at 25:03 and senior Nikhil DeNatale in 80th at 25:08.
The Ephs also had strong performances from sophomores Malcolm Oakes and Keiyu Mamiya in spots four and five on the team. Seniors Ryan Hardiman and Rick Yanashita, who battled through injury to make up 19 places in the final kilometer, rounded out the seven racers for Williams.
"There's a lot of good to take away from this season, even if this wasn't the perfect performance," said Zanuck. "Eli won NESCACs, we had a lot of good performances overall. For me personally, I built over the course of the season and had my best performance today so I'm proud of that."
"I'm happy that we went for it, and I wish things could've come together but we're still proud overall of how we competed," continued Zanuck.
For seniors Zanuck, DeNatale, Hardiman and Yanashita, Saturday was the final cross-country race for a quartet that enjoyed very different paths to arrive at this moment.
"When I think about the seniors, everything is contained in that group," said Lopez. "Luke came out of nowhere and becomes a key guy; Nikhil, 19th [in the country] as a sophomore, had a really tough junior year, then bounces back. Rick had that experience all in one season this year, having some really high moments and other tough races. Ryan Hardiman, he's a guy who's been in the mix for us for a really long time, and a super, super valuable runner."
"These guys have given a lot to the program, and been a core group for us," continued Lopez. "I'm so appreciative of what they do, what they've contributed. Every day, businesslike in their approach to training, competitors and always wanting to do what they can to be in the lineup, never looking for excuses, and that's super valuable for the rest of the group, to see the way the seniors set the tone. ?
"I couldn't ask for anyone better to compete with," said Zanuck of his classmates. "I'm just happy we can all be here together, it's the first time all four of us are here together on the nationals starting line, so that's a great way to cap it off."
Among the season highlights for the Ephs were winning the Little 3 race to start the season, an excellent team performance to finish first of 26 schools at Keene State, a strong second place in the NESCAC Championship where Eli Welch won the individual title, and second place at the NCAA Mideast Regional.
