Ephs Pull Off Upset to Win 5th Division III Indoor Championship in 6 Years

Complete Results

Boston, MA -- Williams has played the role of favorite many times before and tasted sweet victory from that position. But as any athlete will tell you, to be the underdog and pull off the upset is even sweeter.

So it was for the Williams on Saturday at M.I.T., where the Ephs, expected to finish about third, surprised the competition to win the Division III New England Indoor Championships. But as any New England opponent will tell you, perhaps Williams' victory wasn't such a surprise. The Ephs have developed a reputation of running strong when the chips are down, and there never seems to be a down year. From the time the opening gun went off until the combination of Geoff Rodriguez '11, Dan Waters '11, Dan Franck '11, and Andy Morgosh '12 closed down the 4 x 800, the Ephs fought vigorously, valiantly, and vociferously (this was the loudest meet I have ever witnessed.)

At the risk of cliché diminishing truth, the road to another New England Indoor Championship -- the Ephs fifth in six years-was not an easy one. To be frank, there were times when the 2009 edition of Williams indoor track and f ield looked downright pedestrian. Sure, the Ephs knew the potential was there, and they knew which meets were important, but there were definitely times when the team doubted their ability.

Macklin Chaffee's '09 season could be a microcosm of the teams. After getting outkicked twice in an earlier meet against M.I.T. and Coast Guard and running unusually slow times, Chaffee was anything but happy. A New England championship may have been the furthest thing from his mind. What a turn around, then, when two weeks later Chaffee thundered to victory in the mile, 1000, and anchored the second place distance medley relay team (Chaffee cruised as the meet was already in hand at this point). How different his mindset was as he rounded the turn and headed into the front stretch with over forty Williams supporters chanting his name. How thrilled he was, like his teammates, when he hoisted the first place trophy as the entire team took a victory lap around M.I.T.'s track.

Chaffee, a captain along with Alex Hoerman, Deividas Seferis, Robin Kuntz, Heather Bemis, and Lauren Philbrook (all seniors), won the mile in remarkable fashion. After staying with the pack through the first 800 (which was run in a pedestrain 2:15), Macklin turned on the jets, passing Thomas Oglivie of Bowdoin with 400 to go to claim victory in 4:17.52 (meaning that he ran the last 800 in just 2:02). I had a chance to talk to Chaffee after the race, and the noteworthy thing was that he shied away from talking about his personal accomplishments. "If you look at the results vs. the seed times," noted Chaffee, "We outperformed our expecations in every single event. It was truly a team effort." Coach Pete Farwell was in concordance: "I don't think I've ever been to a meet where so many people performed better than we expected," said Farwell in a post-meet speech on the bus.

How about some of those other performances? How about the reaction when Williams athletes looked up at the scoreboard to see that Deividas "Lithium" Seferis '09 had finished second in the 55m dash (in a time of 6.55) to secure 8 points. What about the excitement that reverberated throughout the fieldhouse as Taylor Fitzgerald '11, Alex Hoerman '09, and Seferis came flying down the homestretch in the fastest heat of the 400m to claim 1st, 2nd, and 3rd? How to describe the emotions when we looked up at the scoreboard and saw the Viktor Nagy, just a freshman, ran the fastest time in the 600m from the second fastest heat?

It's imperative that I mention that Jeff Perlis '10 put aside crutches to gut out a third place finish in the 3000. It goes without saying that Brendan Christian's victory in the 5K in 15:07 was both completely unexpected (except by those who know Christian, one of the most committed athletes in any sport) and a huge boost to the Ephs morale. And that's just the track events.

Steve Rubin '11 surprised the competition, grabbing a pair of 6th place finishes in the triple jump and long jump (the Ephs weren't expected to score in either event). Tomas Kearney '12, nabbed 5 points in the high jump, and on Friday, Isaac Nicholson '11 beat expectations by grabbing 3 points in the pentathlon.

By the time the relays came about, the Ephs already had the meet in hand. I had the opportunity to run the anchor leg of the last race, the 4 x 800, and it is a memory I will never forget. On the fourth lap, with 1st place secured, I rounded the final turn to the chant of, "Williams! Williams! Williams!" On the track's edge were teammates, coaches, and alumni alike, all their energies, emotions, and excitement focused on victory. That at least 10 alumni came out to watch the race speaks volumes about this program.

Throughout the season, Ephs' coaches asked that their athletes have faith in the training system. And to be honest, faith may have been minute during the middle of the season, when many athletes felt as though they were not performing at their best. But ours was a training system that emphasized peaking for the important meets. Needless to say, the faith of a mustard seed that we held on to allowed the 2009 Ephs' Track and Field Team to move mountains. See you at the track for the outdoor season!