Sports
Men’s XC scores best NESCAC Championship finish since 1988
By Patrick Malin ’18
November 6, 2015
The men’s cross-country team continued its successful 2015 campaign with another strong performance at the NESCAC conference meet. The Continentals will have two weeks off from competition before they run in the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Championships, aiming to earn a spot in the NCAA Division III National Championship later this month.
Hamilton entered Saturday’s competition after two first-place finishes at its last two meets, the Hamilton Invitational and NYSCTC State Championship. The team made history earlier this season by making the national rankings for the first time in program history.
The Continentals traveled to Middletown, Conn. to compete in the eight-kilometer NESCAC Championship, the strongest conference meet in Division III cross-country. The field included five nationally ranked teams: Williams, Amherst, Tufts, Wesleyan and Bates, as well as several other strong teams that were looking to crack the national rankings themselves.
In an all-around team effort, the Continentals finished fourth place in the meet, tallying a combined score of 144. Williams won the meet with 39 points solidifying its spot in second place in the USTFCCCA NCAA Division III National Coaches’ Poll. Second place in the NESCAC Championship belonged to Amherst, who is currently ranked number five in the nation. After falling out of the national rankings for the week of Oct. 21, the Continentals rebounded by beating nationally ranked teams Wesleyan and Bates, proving that they deserve a spot among the nation’s top cross-country programs. The fourth place finish was the best finish for the Hamilton men’s cross-country team at the NESCAC meet since 1988.
Jack Moses ’16 finished with a team best 26:01.11, good enough for 23rd place in the meet. Jack Pierce ’17 followed closely behind Moses, finishing in 24th place with a time of 26:02.04. Hamilton’s top-four finishers were separated by just over five seconds, with Harry Sullivan ’16 and Adam Pfander ’16 placing 26th and 27th respectively. Henry Whipple ’18 (45th), Evan Abelson ’16 (53rd) and David Freeman ’16 (63rd) rounded out the top-seven scoring runners for Hamilton.
“The atmosphere surrounding NESCAC’s is always very intense. Of 11 teams, usually eight or nine are nationally ranked, meaning that it is by far the most competitive conference in the country. With the exception of our victory in 1988, when the conference was much worse, we have never placed as high as we did last weekend. We were confident going in,” Pierce commented.
On Tuesday, the Continentals were voted back into the top-35 in the NCAA Division III National Coaches’ Poll, ranking a new season-best 28th nationally. This marks the fourth consecutive week the Continentals have received votes in the National poll, and the second time this season the team has been ranked as one of the top cross country teams in the nation.
“We have been anticipating this ‘stacked’ team since my freshmen year, and early on in the season it was not apparent that it would all come together. Our first two races were pretty dismal, and some of us definitely had doubts. As we moved later into the season, and people started to have a couple of good solid workouts under their belts, we started racing better and feeling more confident,” Pierce said.
In addition to the team accolades, head coach Brett Hull was named the NESCAC Men’s Cross-Country Coach of the Year this week. In his 25th season at Hamilton, Hull has led the men’s cross-country team to a historic 2015 season, also receiving the 2015 NYSCTC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year award on Oct. 24.
Hull and the Continentals aim to clinch a Division III National Championship bid when they travel to Letchworth State Park in Mount Morris, N.Y. on Nov. 14 to compete in the 2015 NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Championships. A top-two finish at Regionals will result in an automatic bid to the national competition in in Winneconne, Wisconsin on Nov. 21. The other top finishers will be eligible for an “at-large” bid, voted on by the Division III coaches.
“Our region hopes to get 2-3 at large bids. We, as a team, expect to place 3rd at Regionals. Our expectations heading into regionals will be to qualify for NCAA’s (Nationals),” Pierce said. “The atmosphere is very exciting, and our parents are beginning to look at plane tickets to Oshkosh, Wisconsin.”
Abelson added, “the mantra we have been preaching all year is not to lose the identity that has brought us success, so while there will be fewer people practicing for regionals, the attitude and focus will be similar. Our expectations are to perform as we have been performing. If we do then we will have a very good chance of qualifying for nationals.”