BEVERLY, Mass.- While most teams at Endicott will be hosting home contests this weekend as it is Endicott's Homecoming Weekend, the cross country teams took a different approach; they're heading to one of the toughest regular season race in the country. The squads will be running in the Purple Valley Classic, hosted by Williams, a program that currently sits ranked #2 in the nation for women and #6 for men. The course, at Mt. Greylock Regional High in Williamstown, Mass., also plays host to the NCAA Regionals later in the fall. With eyes set on the program's first ever Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) title, head coach Nick Radkewich knows that to accomplish that feat, the Gulls need to be challenged against the best.
"This is a great opportunity in the development of Endicott cross country to compete against some of the top programs in the nation before we face them at the NCAA Regional meet in November," Radkewich stated. "We have individual athletes with aspirations of qualifying for the NCAA National Championships and they need to compete on the Regional course and against competition that will allow us to personalize their training to compete at their highest levels come November."
The excitement and anticipation is evident in the seniors on the team as well. Senior Erin Haynes (Oakham, Mass.), who has been the women's top runner in every race including a first place individual finish at the RWU Invitational, understands that to achieve their ultimate goals, this is a huge step that will help them down the stretch. "I think this race will be an excellent opportunity for our team to run against some of the fastest Division III runners in the nation," the senior said. "In the past, we have not had a particularly difficult schedule so this race will be a chance for us to compete against these top teams and prove ourselves. We have all been working extremely hard this season and it has shown with our consecutive top two team finishes (1st at RWU and 2nd at UNE). If we carry this hard work over to the race this weekend, we have a real chance of competing."
Fellow senior Alex Walecka, who is the only four year member of the men's team this year, knows that this opportunity not only helps the team immediately, but will also be a great experience for the underclassmen to develop and learn from. "Personally, as a senior, I'm excited to run at one of the most challenging courses in New England," Walecka stated. "I think that this meet is crucial to both the success of the present and future cross country seasons because we will be running against some of the best teams in the New England region as well as the country, and running at the course where our championship meet will be held later this fall. This definitely will be beneficial for the underclassmen that are the building blocks of the future for our program."
In addition to helping the current roster, coach Radkewich knows that a race like this will help in ways that can't be measured immediately. "Competing in meets like the Purple Valley Classic will only raise the Endicott programs' level of recognition to recruits and high school programs," he said. "I'm excited to see our student-athletes compete against the top programs so that we can evaluate their performances and get back to preparing for the CCC Championships."
In addition to Williams, the following teams will be competing as well (national rankings for M & W programs in parentheses); Amherst (21 & 32), Babson, Coast Guard, Cobleskill SUNY, Colby (M 17), Colby-Sawyer, Endicott, Hartwick, Keene State, Lyndon State, MIT (8 & 4), Middlebury (29 & 8), New England College, Roger Williams, Rowan, St. Anselm's, St. Joe's (ME), St. Rose, S. Vermont, Springfield, Tufts (30 & 14), Vassar (W 21), Westfield, Wheaton, Wheelock, Williams (6 & 2).
On Saturday, the men's 8K race will kick off at noon while the women's 6K race will get underway at 12:45 p.m.
