WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – At the site of the 2014 NCAA Division III New England Regional, the Endicott men's and women's cross country teams raced against a challenging field at the Purple Valley Classic, hosted by Williams College. Both teams finished in 17th place among fields consisting of over 20 programs racing in the warm, late-September weather.
Endicott's season continues next weekend at the Keene State Invitational on Saturday, October 4th with the men going off at 11:00 am and the women following at 12:00 pm.
Endicott's 11-runner men's team (485 points) placed 17th out of 21 teams finishing just behind Hartwick (475) and ahead of Cobleskill (505), Springfield (523), St. Joseph's (Me., 539), and New England College (554). Colby claimed both the team and individual top prize beating out the host Williams.
"The results don't speak for the efforts and progress the program has made in the past year," said head coach Nick Radkewich. "It will give us a measurement in the future of the program's development. The staff is very proud of the efforts seen against some of the top programs in the nation."
The Gulls were paced by freshman Zachary Marshall (Hinesburg, Vt.) who crossed the 8K finish line at 28:33.7 (5:45 per mile) and in 101st place overall. Marshall was trailed by fellow first-year James Dwyer (Berlin, Conn.) who came in 158th with a time of 29:51.1 (6:01 per mile) and sophomore Noah Mondello (Gloucester, Mass.) who clocked in at 30:26.6 (6:08 per mile) and 175th overall.
Rounding out the top five scoring for Endicott were senior captain Alex Walecka (North Dartmouth, Mass.) and sophomore Kidder Spillane (Shelburne, Vt.) at 30:53.1 (6:13 per mile) and 31:04.9 (6:16 per mile), respectively. Gulls sophomore Benjamin Cherry (Kennebunk, Maine) raced across the finish line just behind Spillane at 31:09.2 (6:17 per mile).
On the women's side, senior Erin Haynes (Oakham, Maine) was the leader of the pack for Endicott, clocking in 24:06.2 (6.28 per mile) in the 6K race and 49th overall, just behind runners from Tufts, Williams, and Middlebury. Junior Grace Brigham (Montpelier, Vt.) was the second Endicott runner to cross the finish line as she came in at 25:40.3 (6:54 per mile) which was good for 129th place.
Senior Jocelyn Kane (East Longmeadow, Mass.) registered a time of 26:48.2 (7:12 per mile) and was trailed by sophomore teammate Kiera Malone (Woburn, Mass.) just four seconds later. The fifth and final Gull to score in the Purple Valley Classic was freshman Elizabeth Vincent who ended her race at 27:51.2.
