Finshing Touches On The XC Season

For all but one of us, our season ended in the mud of the North Country, at Regionals. The men's team finished in the same spot as last season, which definitely came as a disappointment. That said, I was definitely impressed with some of the races I saw, including one of our freshmen, Zach Williams, who has really settled in well and become one of our premier runners. However, I obviously have to give credit to Johanna Spangler, not only because she was the only one of us to continue her season (by qualifying for Nationals), but also because she's the first freshmen to achieve this in Vassar Cross-Country history.

At Nationals this weekend, she placed 93rd out of over 270 runners, and was the 11th freshman to finish. This season alone has made her one of the best female runners to ever attend Vassar, and next year, I think she's going to start winning races instead of just finishing in the top five consistently. It's also interesting to see how competitive our region is compared to the others around the country; the top 35 finishers in each race receive All-American honors; of these 35 on the men's side, 11were from the Atlantic region. The team that has been ranked #1 for most of the season and won Nationals, SUNY-Cortland, is also from our region. The individual champion was Peter Kosgei of Hamilton, again from our region. Williams College, a team from the New England region, but a team we raced multiple times this season, finished 3rd in both the men's and women's races. Division III competition doesn't get much better than the runners we see on a weekly basis.

Now that cross-country is over, it's time for most of us to start thinking about track. Until March, we won't be doing much in terms of racing, but that doesn't mean we won't be running...