Ephs Finish 2nd at New England Qualifier; Qualify for NCAAs
Eph harrier Edgar Kosgey cruised to victory Saturday at the Division III New England Regional Championships, leading the Williams squad to a runner-up finish behind Amherst College. The two teams were separated by a heart-breaking single point – Amherst 117, Williams 118 – in the heated race at Connecticut College’s home course in New London, Connecticut.
The close finish between the top-five teams in the region is indicative of the depth in the New England region this year. Amherst’s score of 117 points – a very high score for a winning team – also shows the strength of the region. This score indicates that the top places in the region were spread out among many teams, rather than one team dominating the finish. Going into the race, Williams’ Head Cross Country Coach Pete Farwell was aware that this depth was something to keep an eye on.
“We knew at the beginning of the season that it was a toss-up due to the depth in our region,” Farwell said.
The deep pack of runners did nothing to stop Kosgey’s victory in a time of 24:55. The first-place finish adds another stellar mark to the runner’s belt, which is studded with top-placed finishes spanning the whole season. Throughout the race, Kosgey kept in control, waiting until the last mile to make the decisive move that led to his first-place finish.
“The race felt pretty nice the first three miles. I was really pretty okay,” Kosgey said. “At the last mile, I heard them [the other racers] breathing hard around me and I said to myself, ‘I’m going to kick these guys.’”
Leading into the final straightaway, Kosgey held a solid lead of five seconds over individual runner-up Sean Watson of Wesleyan College.
Senior captain Corey Levin finished in 14th place (25:12), just ahead of the other Corey – Corey Watts – who continued his breakthrough season with a 22nd place finish in a time of 25:20.
As always, Williams’ top-5 packed up tightly, racing in pairs throughout the race: senior captain Grant Burgess ran fourth for Williams (39th place, 25:39), and sophomore Connor Kamm closed four seconds back in 25:43 for 42nd place.
Junior Brendan Christian raced as sixth man for the Ephs, running 25:58 (62nd place), and senior Morgan Seybert finished things off in 70th place, crossing the line in 26:07.
Reflecting on the day, Levin considered the race a “solid performance,” but he thought that all the elements didn’t lie in the Eph’s favor.
“I think we [the team] had a solid performance today,” Levin said. “But, this wasn’t our ideal course. We train and thrive on hills all season, so a flat course like this isn’t necessarily playing to our strengths.”
The ill-suited course was not the only thing stopping the Ephs from racing as well as they wanted. Some of the harriers had off-days, which can happen during the course of the long cross country season. These frustrating circumstances led some Ephs to race below their potential. Farwell hopes that next weekend everything will come together for the runners.
“I think we had a few excellent races today, and a few good races. We just have to all have excellent races next weekend, and things will work out. All in all, it was a good team effort today.” Farwell said.
Though the end result may not have been what Williams fans hoped for, Levin believes that Williams’ loss today will work in their favor next week at the national championships race.
“It hurts to lose by just one point, but when we go out there next week, that’s going to work as motivation.”
With the second place finish the Ephs secured a berth in the NCAA Championship Race next weekend at St. Olaf College in Minnesota..
