Women WIN New England Regionals!!!

November 13, 2006

This past weekend, we raced the NCAA Regional Championships, which were also the Division III New England Championships. We raced at Veterans Golf Course in Springfield, MA. The day was sunny and warm and virtually no wind at all. In true Panther spirit, many of XC runners not racing drove to the meet on Saturday morning to cheer the teams on.

This year, a new qualifying process took effect. The teams that finish 1st and 2nd earn an automatic trip to Willmington, Ohio where the NCAA Division III Championships. That will provide a field of 16 teams (2 from each of the 8 regions). Then, another 16 teams are chosen at large based on the teams performance in the last 25% of the competitive racing season. A team must finish in the top 5 at the regional meet to be considered. In addition, the top 7 individuals outside of the qualifying teams earns a ticket to the meet as well.

The men raced first and were ready, excited to race after having a strong taper week in practice.
The pace was led early on by a duo from Keene, followed by a trio of runners representing NESCAC. As to be expected, top Panther Jimmy Butcher was in that mix. They passed by the Keene runners half-way through. NESCAC Champion Hunter Norte from Trinity gradually moved off the front to take 1st place. In the chase pack, Jimmy moved well, putting in some surges and responding to surges from others. He came in 5th place overall (25:52), locking up his bid to compete next weekend. Sophomore Peter Murphy put together another outstanding race, just rolling through the course, looking very strong and in command. He fought with a large pack of runners all the way to the finish, earning 31st place overall (26:32). Both Jimmy and Peter earned All-New England Honors. Bruce Hallett made a great move with about a half mile to go and passed a pack of about 7 runners. He came in 51st place with a time of 27:00. Jack Wambach, was Midd’s next scorer. His strong determination and hard work put him in 62nd place (27:11). Will McDonough gained a lot of ground in the last 1.5 miles. In the critical scoring position of the 5th man, he came in 65th place with a time of 27:15. Senior Captain Chris Pelliccia was 23 seconds behind in 84th place. Chris Free was our 7th man for the day, crossing the finish line in 28:18 (120th)
The men finished a very respectable 8th place overall. Williams and Bowdoin earned automatic bids, with both Wesleyan and Trinity getting at-large bids to Nationals.

The women spiked up next, again racing 6 kilometers, instead of 5. We knew the extra half-mile plus would serve as an advantage to our team due to their overall strength and great fitness level.
The pace was fast, as to be expected from such a talented field. Early on in the race, Ellen Davis from Wesleyan emerged as the front runner and gradually increased her lead throughout the remainder of the race. Andi Giddings moved up gradually throughout the 3.5+ miles and secured 6th place coming into the final home stretch. She raced smart and strong, with a very respectable 22:01. Erin Archard had an incredible day. She raced hard and was relentless in closing in on the women ahead of her. She kicked furiously and looked very capable of chasing down a few more people but ran out of real estate. She came through the finish in 9th place (22:17). Alexandra Krieg had another strong performance as well. She continues to improve each race, narrowing the time to both Andi & Erin. Her time of 22:26, only 9 seconds behind Erin, was good for 12th place. Makely Lyon, more true to racing form after NESCAC’s, impacted the team with a great race. She was 22nd overall with a time of 22:50. Claire Schultz powered through the finish, just 2 seconds behind Makely. Devyn Young was a quick 18 seconds behind Claire, caoming in 32nd place. All 6 women received All-Regional Honors. Annie Sullivan moved up steadily through the race, passing close to 20 people in the last mile. Annie came in 46th place with a time of 23:42
Although it was a very tight battle for the overall title, the women ran away with the top honors scoring an awesome score of 73 points. Amherst was 2nd with 78, Williams was 3rd (100), followed by Tufts (118), and Keene (160). Middlebury & Amherst earning an automatic bid, and Williams, Tufts, and Keene all received at-large bids to Nationals. It will be great to have such a strong representation from New England at Nationals.

We will really miss all of our seniors, Will McDonough, Chris Pelliccia, Neal Dignum, Andi Giddings, Erin Archard, Makely Lyon, Claire Schultz, Devyn Young, Kara Plunkett, Kylie Taylor, and Alison Brown. Our team was clearly more motivated to work harder, and race stronger & smarter from their leadership. They have helped tremendously in spirit, enthusiasm, and an incredible work ethic. We are confident their influences will be felt for years to come.

Nicole Wilkerson
Asst Cross Country Coach