No. 2 women’s cross country put on a dominant performance on Saturday at the Purple Valley Classic (PVC) on Mount Greylock Regional High School’s campus, defeating No. 17 Tufts, No. 22 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and Trinity to earn first place with just 20 points. Led by Kate Swann ’26 in second place, five of the top six finishers wore spotted cow print as the Ephs delivered success at an event celebrating the team’s seniors and alums.
The Ephs returned six of their seven finishers from last season’s podium team at NCAAs, which fueled a strong start to the season, according to Julia Brennan ’27. “Everyone has a really strong drive to compete that has centralized around the focus of wanting to do it for us as a team,” said Brennan, who finished ninth at the PVC.
This team’s cohesion also paid dividends at the first meet of the year, as the Ephs took down No. 9 Amherst and Wesleyan at the Sept. 6 Little Three Championships, hosted by Amherst. “It was really wonderful to see how summer training has translated into [competition],” said Morgan Eigel ’27, who finished third overall at Little Threes. Swann added that there was excitement about the victory, especially following the team’s three consecutive Little Three meet losses to Amherst dating back to 2022.
Next, on Sept. 13, the Ephs finished first out of the nine teams at the Ron Stonitsch Invitational, hosted by Vassar. According to Brennan, the team had a strategy of packing together based on a prescribed pace, which allowed them to achieve collective success.
The significance of this weekend’s PVC — a home meet, Senior Day, and an alum event all in one — gave the team an extra dose of motivation. “The connection that you feel with everyone, and with Williams teammates past and present, it just runs deep,” Brennan said. “You’re on your home course, and everyone is there to cheer you on.”
The PVC race kicked off at 11:50 a.m. on a gorgeous early fall day in the valley. “Our home course is just one of the best courses in the world, I think,” Swann said. “You’ve got mountain views on either side of you, and the foliage is turning, and it’s rolling hills, so it creates this energy for a really fun race.”
The team took a cautious approach to the start of the race. “Because it was two loops, the idea was to let the race play out in the first loop, be a little bit conservative, run with the recognition that we would have to go do those hills a second time, and then in the second loop, turn on the jets a little bit,” Eigel explained.
The plan proved highly successful. RPI’s Jules Bleskoski built an insurmountable lead early on, but the Ephs formed multiple distinct packs and worked together to move up throughout the race. Ultimately, Swann broke ahead of the rest of her teammates to finish second behind Bleskoski in 22:00 for the 6k race, followed by Eigel in third in 22:05, Tamar Byl-Brann ’27 in fourth in 22:12, Jordan Liss-Riordan ’27 in fifth in 22:17, and Kate Tuttle ’28 in sixth in 22:21.
Swann, who grew up in Williamstown, said her decisive move — passing Eigel and Liss-Riordan along Apple Hill on the second lap — was motivated by the significance of racing at her home course one final time. “I was just like, all right, I’m going to just leave it all out on this course, just go for it,” she said. “I definitely surprised myself by taking such a bold move, but I felt confident in it because I knew the course so well.”
Brennan and Charlene Peng ’26 worked together in a pack of their own during the second loop, as Peng finished in eighth (22:43) and Brennan ninth (22:47) to ensure that the Ephs’ entire top seven finished inside the top ten of the race. “We got 4–5k into the race and I was definitely slowing down, and [Charlene] made a move and hit her leg,” Brennan said. “That’s her signal to say, ‘You can do this,’ and that really meant a lot.”
Five more Ephs finished inside the top 20 at the meet, showcasing impressive depth. “We just have a team of really committed people who all work hard and encourage each other to also work hard,” Peng said.
The Ephs look to continue this team-wide success at the Keene State Invitational in Keene, N.H., on Oct. 4.
