The College's cross country teams competed in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships in Williamstown, Mass., last Saturday. While the women's team finished in fifth place out of 35 teams, the men's team took second in the 40-team field.
In the men's competition, the Lions finished the 8,000-meter race with 88 points, second only to Williams College, which finished with 31 points.
Junior Anthony Arnold finished the race in 26:18, earning him second place and qualifying him for All-ECAC honors. Junior Steve Kinney also qualified for All-ECAC honors after finishing in 14th place with a time of 26:52.
"I was thinking I had a shot at winning during the week leading up, but it's hard to know who is going to show up at a meet, so I'm pretty pleased with second," Arnold said. "Our goal was to win the meet since we got third last year, but the Williams team was too strong."
Junior Mike Fonder placed 21st with a time of 27:07, freshman Greg Bredeck finished in 23rd in 27:13, freshman Brian Toms placed 28th in 27:16 and sophomore Josh Krowicki finished in 54th place with a time of 27:51. The Lions finished up with Matt Dolan, who completed the race in 28:14.
"It was the first time any of us had run on the course," Toms said. "Everyone did pretty well, but some of us felt we could have done a little better with some experience on (the course)."
In the women's race, the Lions finished the 6,000-meter race with 154 points, behind Amherst College with 37 points, the Coast Guard College with 50 points, Williams College with 63 points and Middlebury College with 129 points.
The Lions' top scorer was freshman Valerie Bonczek, who finished in 23:58 and earned 23rd place. She was followed by senior Allyson Krayl, who earned 24th place in 24:00.
Senior Christine Nystrom earned 34th place in 24:19, sophomore Nicole Ullmeyer finished in 36th with a time of 24:21 and junior Sara Best finished in 39th place with a time of 24:26.
The teams will compete at Letchworth State Park in Mt. Morris, N.Y., on Nov. 11 for the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships.
