MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Williams College men's cross country team opened the 2026 season with a hard-fought second-place finish at the annual Little Three Championships. The Ephs finished tied with Wesleyan at 39 points, but the Cardinals claimed the title on a tiebreaker.
"As the team scores showed, this was a very tight race decided by just a couples of places. It is never ideal to lose by tiebreaker, but we showed some good toughness to bid for the win against two talented rivals," said head coach
Dusty Lopez.
Williams placed five men in the Top 15, led by junior
Eli Welch who finished in second place with a time of 18:23.7.
Malcolm Oakes finished in fifth place with a time of 18:31.4, followed by
Keiyu Mamiya in ninth (18:48.2),
Gavin Engtrakul in 11
th (18:51.8), and
Avery Allen in 12
th in a time of 18:52.8.
"It will be exciting to see our improvement continue as the season goes on," said Lopez.
The Ephs will visit Middlebury next weekend before the team's only home race of 2026 on Sept. 19, hosting the Purple Valley Classic at Mount Greylock Cross Country Loop in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
