On Saturday, Nov. 3, the men’s and women’s cross country teams journeyed up to Mt. Greylock High School in Williamstown, Mass. to compete in the ECAC Championship. The Cardinals have always used this event as an opportunity to give some of the Junior Varsity athletes a chance to compete, and this year was no exception. The men didn’t field enough runners to qualify for scoring, but the women finished in 11th out of 41 teams with 364 points, only 19 points from the top 10. This is an especially impressive performance for the women as none of their top runners were participating.

Veronica Alvarado ’15 led the Cardinals by finishing 44th out of 284 runners with a time of 24:43.45 over the 6k course. Not far behind was Libby Lazare ’14 in 53rd with a time of 24:57.87. Freshman Rachel Eisman had a strong showing as well with a time of 25:20.50 to finish in 83rd place. The final two runners for the Cardinals were Karley Dutra ’14 and Margaux Sica ’16, running times of 25:46.69 and 25:52.25 respectively.

The only runner on the men’s side was Evan Bieder ’15, finishing 58th out of 287 competitors with a time of 28:14.06 over the 8k course.

The normal runners on both the men’s and women’s teams were being rested in preparation for this Saturday’s NCAA Regional Meet at Westfield State College, which will determine who qualifies for the NCAA Division III Championship.

“We have a real shot at qualifying, but it’s going to take gritty performances from each and every one of us,” women’s co-captain Julia Mark ’13 said.

Mark has had a tremendous season so far, having led the Cardinals with top 20 finishes in every event so far and earning a victory at the Wesleyan Invitational. Mark was quick to give credit to head coach John Crooke.

“Our top seven runners are the seven seniors on the team,” she said. “I think that’s really a testament to Coach Crooke’s training program: you keep progressing as a runner each year that you’re here, and so by senior year you’re running your best.”

Like the women, the men will have to be at their best this weekend if they want to qualify for the NCAA Championship.

“We don’t have much depth, so for us to beat one of the top five teams from NESCAC, everyone in our top five has to have an on day, but that’s well within the realm of possibility,” co-captain Skyler Cummins ’13 said. “I think this is the most consistent team we’ve had in years, and though I do think we’re a serious underdog, I do think we have a reasonable shot to make it to nationals. Our top seven is a real tight-knit group of guys and I think we collectively have the focus and desire to make it happen.”

Hopefully hard work and chemistry will carry both the women and men above and beyond this weekend.