Williamstown, MA--This week the Ephs are tuning up for the annual Purple Valley Classic on Saturday, held on their home course at Mt. Greylock High School, four miles south of Williamstown on Rt. 7. Thirteen women’s teams will compete in two races—an open coed 5k at 11:30 a.m. and a women’s 6k at 12:45 p.m.
The Williams women will face stiff competition from high-ranking Division I, II and III teams, including Middlebury, whom they will be seeing for the third week in a row. This week, however, is the first meet in which the full Eph roster will compete—that means it’s the first opportunity to see how the Williams top seven measure up against the field.
The Ephs, currently ranked seventh in the nation for Division III, will come to the line ready to take on a solid spread of teams.
In addition to Middlebury, the top-ranked Division III foe and last year’s NCAA national champions, the lineup this weekend includes Johns Hopkins, ranked fourth in the nation in Division III, and Plattsburgh, currently ranked 23rd. UMass-Lowell will bring depth from Division II to the competition. Additional teams competing this weekend are Colby, Hudson Valley Community College, Mass College of Liberal Arts, NYU, Oberlin, Mt. Holyoke, Smith College, Springfield and Union.
“This meet features multi-region and division competition and top-notch Division III squads,” said Head Coach Pete Farwell, commenting on the depth of the field, which includes squads from the Great Lakes region, New York and the mid-Atlantic, as well as several fellow New England teams.
The team will look to use to its advantage the familiar, grueling ups and downs of its home course this weekend. The Ephs hit the trails at Mt. Greylock High School this week to reacquaint themselves with the challenging course. Farwell said, “We're always excited to host on our terrific championship cross country course, which is in the best condition ever after some more chipping work this summer.”
Farwell added, “It will be a true harrier contest, and we feel our teams have prepared well over the summer and the first weeks of September and are ready to go.”
