On Sept. 23, men’s cross country raced to victory at the Purple Valley Classic Invitational over the rolling hills of its home course, placing first of seven. In a competitive field of seven teams, the Ephs scored just 23 points to secure the win over perennial rival and incumbent national champions MIT, who accrued 33 points. In the most recent U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll, MIT was ranked No. 3 and Williams was ranked No. 11.
After weeks of warm weather, the Ephs enjoyed a cool and cloudy day of racing at Mount Greylock Regional High School, the site of many workouts and practices for the Ephs. “It was nice to know the course well and know what I needed to do to get up the hills and to the finish line,” Nikhil DeNatale ’26 said. “Being familiar with the trails helped us all run our own races and have confidence facing MIT. Going in, we knew they would come ready to perform, but we knew what we were capable of as well.”
Relying on a strategy of tight compression and progressive racing, the Ephs executed a conservative start, with each runner working their way up in the field throughout the 8k. Early on in the race, DeNatale captured the lead of the men’s race, creating a gap between himself and the rest of the field as he navigated the challenging trails. Co-captain John Lucey ’24 and Chuckie Namiot ’25, amid a pack of runners from MIT, followed close behind. Over the course of the 8k, Lucey was able to make up the distance between himself and DeNatale. The two Ephs raced each other in the last few kilometers, with Lucey overtaking the lead and claiming his third individual win of the season with a time of 24:37. DeNatale took second overall, finishing just three seconds behind Lucey with a time of 24:40.
Namiot raced to third with a time of 24:48, holding off a pack of competitors to complete the Ephs’ sweep of the top three individual places. “Trying out the strategy of a tight pack at the front of the race is valuable, especially at this point in the season,” Lucey said.
Nate Lentz ’24 and Chris Ratcliffe ’24 were the next two Ephs to finish, with just two seconds separating their times of 25:31 and 25:33, respectively. Pat Theveny ’24 finished close behind, crossing the line with a time of 25:41. In another impressive display of compression, co-captain Jacob Lehmann Duke ’24 (25:54), Jinwoo Kang ’24 (26:01), and Luke Zanuck ’26 (26:06) finished within the span of eleven seconds. Ryan Hardiman ’26 showed grit and determination during the race, finishing tenth for Ephs with a time of 26:19.
Reflecting on the team’s performance, Lucey expressed his enthusiasm about the team’s performance. Today’s race was a great demonstration of what we can do,” he said. “It was a chance to race as the underdogs against the returning national champions [MIT] and an exercise in holding our own and keeping our cool. Executing this race well is encouraging as we move toward bigger meets later in the season.”
The next race for the Ephs will be the NCAA Pre-Nationals Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 7, hosted by Dickinson College.
