Knowledge of the course is always a huge part of being successful during a race. It is essential to know the turns, hills and markers in order to run a course as fast as possible.
Considering this fact, the women's cross country team knew how important it was to not only run the course quickly but also to learn its intricacies.
This weekend's Purple Valley Classic hosted by Williams was held at the same course that will be used at the Div. III New England Regional meet in November, which could prove to be particularly important for freshman runners who won't have had much experience on the course come Regionals time. With several NESCAC teams participating in the meet, it was also a great preview of what is to come at the NESCAC Championships in late October.
Middlebury, the No. 2 team in the nation, took first place with 57 points at the race, while the host Ephs took second with 76 points. Johns Hopkins and MIT finished third and fourth, respectively, with 86 points and 102 points. Amherst, Colby and Tufts rounded out the top seven, with 142, 175 and 206 points, respectively.
Junior Anya Price led the way for the Jumbos, finishing 21st in a time of 23:18. Senior tri−captain and All−American Amy Wilfert made her debut this season finishing second for the team in 24:01 and 45th overall. Freshman Lauren Creath had an impressive performance as well, finishing 50th in a time of 24:06. Sophomore Lilly Fisher and freshman Abby Barker were the final scorers for the Jumbos, placing 55th and 60th. Freshman Laura Peterson and sophomore Melanie Monroe rounded out the top seven.
Not only was it the first 6,000−meter race of the season for the team, it was also the first 6k ever for the Class of 2014. Adjusting to a new distance is always a challenge, especially on a tough course. Assistant coach Daniel Murner was impressed by the team's attitude going into the race.
"They were racing on a tough course and against a loaded field," Murner said. "For many of them, this race was their first 6k. Still, the team went into it undaunted."
Wilfert was similarly pleased with the effort of the freshmen. With the success that many of the young runners saw in their first 6k, there is a lot of optimism regarding the team's potential for the remainder of the season.
"I think the freshman adjusted pretty well," Wilfert said. "I think it will take some a bit longer to adjust than others, depending on what they were used to racing in high school. As a whole they did really well in the 6k, considering this was a more difficult 6k course."
Pack running remains a focus for the team, as evidenced by having the fourth through seventh runners finishing within 16 seconds of each other. In many cases, a tight pack moving together can help runners achieve better times than they would get running alone.
"In cross country, finding teammates to run with is always huge," Murner said. "We are lucky to have a pack that is naturally tight. They don't have to look very far before they find a teammate. This will serve us well in the future."
Staying aggressive and moving the pack as close to the front as possible can provide huge point swings in championship races.
"We're doing a pretty good job of establishing a pack," Wilfert said. "We just have to work on moving our pack up so it can break up the packs from other teams."
Now that the young team has a 6k to build off, the Jumbos look forward to making adjustments to maximize their potential.
"I think the biggest thing we can improve on is being aggressive and really putting ourselves out there to take some risks," Wilfert said. "We're going to be underdogs this season. We have nothing to lose. We just need to put ourselves out there, take some risks and go after what we want."
