Men’s cross country places fourth at NCAA Championship, securing podium finish
On Nov. 18, men’s cross country earned a podium finish at the NCAA Div. III National Championship, scoring just 212 points. Although the race featured a tough course, the Ephs managed to start strong with a fast lead from sixth-place finisher and co-captain John Lucey ’24, who had an impressive record time of 24:35.
Following Lucey was Nikhil DeNatale ’26, who placed 20th in the 292-runner field. DeNatale faced difficulties due to the crowded start but finished with a time of 24:46. Lucey and DeNatale earned All-American Honors following their performances at the championship.
Lucey, who had not finished below the top five finishers in any race this season, set the pace for the race. Chuckie Namiot ’25 moved up 111 places over the distance of the 8k, finishing in 52nd place. Nate Lentz ’24, the Ephs’ fourth runner, finished in 72nd place.
After getting injured last year, Ryan Hardiman ’26 scored in the championship as the team’s fifth finisher and managed to beat 11 other runners in the last 2 kilometers of the race, moving the team up to fourth place. Finishing the race just 70 seconds after Lucey, Hardiman scored crucial points for the team.
Lucey highlighted the performances of DeNatale, Hardiman, and Namiot over the course of the season in an interview with the Record. After securing fourth place on the podium, the Ephs felt a huge sense of accomplishment and pride for the efforts they made this season, Lucey said. “Doing so well has made us more sure of ourselves and our teammates and also made us hungrier to compete hard in the conference, regional, and national levels come track season,” he wrote in an email to the Record.
Chris Ratcliffe ’24 and Pat Theveny ’24 rounded out the top seven finishers for the Ephs with respective times of 26:04 and 26:26. This victory was the first national championship both seniors had competed in, and Lucey emphasized the impact the seniors have made in their final season. “[They] show[ed] a lot of the younger guys the simplicity and effectiveness of putting your head down and going to work,” Lucey wrote.
“Being able to walk away with a fourth-place finish and be on the podium made us super happy,” Namiot wrote in an email to the Record.
Members of the team will now start preparing for the spring’s track season. A strong group of runners will make their indoor track debut on Dec. 2, either at the Boston New Balance track or Boston University. “We’ll have the track season to continue our improvement and development,” head coach Dusty López ’01 wrote in an email to the Record. “We just have to keep doing the things that made cross country[’s season] such a success, and I think that will make us more than prepared for future races.”
Women’s cross country finishes sixth at NCAA Championship
Women’s cross country took sixth place at the NCAA Div. III Cross Country Championship hosted by Dickinson College. As the returning champions of the NCAA Championship, the Ephs’ runners were seeded at second, third, fourth, and fifth among the NESCAC runners and scored a total of 245 points. Earning the honor of All-American for her performance, co-captain Genna Girard ’24 led the race with a placement of 32nd and a 21:40 finish time.
The course featured a hilly terrain with multiple turns. The structure of the course contributed to the Ephs’ performance in the race, Nora Johnson ’25 said. “We were very strong on hills as a team as a result of training in Williamstown and on the Greylock course,” she said.
Finishing in 59th place at her first NCAA Championship, Johnson commented on the strategic advantages of having raced on the course previously. “Everyone on the team had the chance to run in that first meet,” she said, referencing the NCAA Pre-Nationals Preview, which was held at the same course. “The second time, it was great, because we warmed up on the course. We were able to get into more of a rhythm in the woods [and kind of] knew what was coming.” The team surpassed their own expectations to finish the race in sixth, despite their initial eighth seed.
Running in her first NCAA Championship, Tamar Byl-Brann ’27 claimed 146th place and moved up 24 places in the second 3k. “[It] was tough but enjoyable — definitely a successful ‘work paid off’ moment,” Byl-Brann wrote in an email to the Record. “Our sense of community and dedication are both teams’ strongest attributes. Many people have faced injury or sickness and continue to show up.”
Molly FitzGibbons ’24 and Johnson also made impressive progress over the course of the race, climbing 15 places in the last 3k and 21 places in the first 3k respectively.
Co-captain Lucy Gagnon ’24, who finished in 204th place, also commented on the team camaraderie. “We had a lot of success working together… We’re really looking to help push each other up,” she said.
Johnson echoed the sentiment. “Everyone truly gave it their all… We’d never been in a race that was this big with that much competition,” she said. “People really stayed calm and handled it well when the first mile was really shoulder-to-shoulder.”
López commented on the biggest highlights of both the men’s and women’s teams’ historic sweep at this year’s NESCAC Championships on Oct. 28. Both teams had individual champions, Lucey and Girard, and claimed the championship title — a first in NESCAC history.
“Both teams outperformed their pre-meet national rankings, and we came home with the best-combined finish of men’s and women’s programs of any school in the country,” López wrote in an email to the Record. “With three All-Americans, a trophy finish for the men, and the women moving up two spots on their ranking, it was a strong day.”
Gagnon praised López in his first season as head coach, with the Ephs having the lowest combined score between men’s and women’s teams across Div. III teams.
The next goal for members of the team, Gagnon said, is to continue training and transition its cross-country success into the indoor track season. The Ephs are preparing for the women’s track and field meet at the BU Season Opener on Dec. 2.
Volleyball falls to Salisbury in first round of NCAA Tournament, ending strong season
Volleyball (16-10, 4-5 NESCAC) fell to the Salisbury Sea Gulls (21-8) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 16. Although the Ephs built a 2-0 set lead, the Sea Gulls staged a spirited comeback, winning a reverse sweep to secure a 3-2 victory and end the season for the Ephs.
The Ephs earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after upsetting No. 4 Tufts (14-10, 6-4 NESCAC) in the NESCAC Semifinals to advance to the NESCAC Championship, where they narrowly fell to No. 1 Wesleyan (21-1, 10-0 NESCAC).
Head coach Christi Kelsey expressed pride in the team’s national berth, which marked its second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its 15th appearance in program history. “Given the depth of Div. III volleyball this year, being one of 20 at-large teams selected to complete the field of 64 was an honor and reflective of the overall body of work this team did this year,” she wrote in an email to the Record.
In the first set, the Ephs came back from a 9-6 deficit, riding the momentum of a kill by Annaliese Fricke ’26 to go on a 10-3 run. Tatum Baker ’27 made the match-ending kill to claim the set 25-18 and give the Ephs a one-set advantage.
For much of the second set, the Ephs and Sea Gulls traded leads. The Ephs gained momentum by stringing together a series of 4-0 runs, helped by an early ace from Baker to keep the momentum in their favor. After a service error from Salisbury, the Ephs claimed the second set 25-20.
But the Ephs could not hold the advantage. The Sea Gulls built a 10-5 lead early in the third set, forcing the Ephs to call a timeout. Following the break, the Sea Gulls extended their lead to 15-9. The Ephs briefly won back the momentum by winning 11 of the following 14 points.
A kill from co-captain Marit Hoyem ’24 and an ace from Morgan Daetz ’27 carved out a 24-23 advantage and a match-point opportunity for the Ephs. However, Salisbury capitalized to bring the set 26-24, closing its overall deficit to 1-2.
[Editor’s note: Hoyem is an editor-at-large for the Record and was not involved in the writing or editing of this piece.]
The fourth and fifth sets followed in kind. In the fourth set, the Ephs traded leads with the Sea Gulls until a 14-14 tie and did not regain the lead for the remainder of the set. A service error ended the set in Salisbury’s favor at 25-21. In the final set, Salisbury built an 8-4 lead to force a timeout from the Ephs. Although Hoyem followed up with two consecutive kills and an ace, Salisbury maintained its lead. Kiley McTaggart’s game-winning kill for Salisbury locked the score at 15-10 and sent the Sea Gulls to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
On offense, Fricke and Hoyem led the Ephs with 17 kills each, and Daetz and co-captain Lauren Kauppila ’24 led with 24 assists each. Sidra Wohlwend ’25 led the Ephs on defense, racking up 26 digs.
Reflecting on the playoff bid, Kelsey praised the Ephs’ strong play against Salisbury despite the narrow loss.
“As coaches, we couldn’t ask for much more than for our team to be playing some of its best volleyball at the end of the season,” she wrote to the Record. “It’s what you hope to build toward, and we definitely had so many people step up in big ways both in NESCACs and NCAAs. We came up just a little bit short against a very good Salisbury team, but even in that match, we put together really great stretches of the best we have played collectively all year.”
Kelsey also highlighted the performance of the team’s seniors, all of whom were co-captains this season. For their performances, co-captains Celia Adams ’24 and Hoyem were named first-team All-NESCAC honorees for a second consecutive year. “Caroline [Tosolini ’24], Marit, Celia, and Lauren have definitely left their mark on this team,” Kelsey wrote. “Together, they have helped us play at a higher level on court, but more importantly, they have served as great role models, leaders, and teammates for all that they have done for our volleyball family in the past four years.”
“They will be missed no doubt, and at the same time, they have helped inspire our returners [so] that we have a very bright future ahead for Williams Volleyball,” she continued.
