Men's Cross Country at Williams

Williams has achieved cross country success since the team's inception in 1912. Early triumphs under Coach Charles 'Doc' Seeley (1912-1934) included New England titles in 1916 and 1924. Hal Brown '20 was New England Champion and went on to capture the Gold Medal in the 3,000 meter team race at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. Tony Plansky, two-time national decathlon champion, coached 44 years at Williams (1935-78). His last nine teams of the '70s compiled an 87-19-1 dual meet record including undefeated seasons in 1970, 1975, and 1977. Pete Farwell took the helm in 1979, and the Ephs compiled a 34-meet win streak with undefeated years 1979 and 1980. Since 1970 Williams has won the traditional Little Three rivalry with Amherst and Wesleyan 35 of 37 years!

Williams cross country came into its own in 1992 with convincing victories in the 11-team NESCAC conference and the New England Division III Championship. Seth McClennen '93, freshman Marzuki Stevens '96, and Chad Kurtz '94 qualified for the NCAAs. 1993-1998 saw repeats of those victories, which secured a team berth for the NCAAs. The 1993 Ephs placed fourth to capture a coveted team trophy. Jeremie Perry '96 led the charge in a 9th place All-American finish. Perry returned in 1994 to conquer the field, emerging as individual national champion with a speedy 24:41 clocking on a challenging 8k course. The Ephs packed in three more All-Americans (Stevens 7th, Tim Billo '97 22nd, and Creaghan Trainor '96 29th) with Greg Crowther '95 wrapping up the team score of 98 to edge perennial champ North Central (Illinois)'s 110. That top five won NESCAC and the 32-team Albany Invitational (Yale in 2nd). Perry was named 1994 Runner of the Year by the U.S. Track Coaches Association.

1995 found the Ephs 3rd in the All New Englands (behind only Providence and Dartmouth), winning the Dartmouth Invite, and repeating as NCAA Champs! At the Nationals Stevens (4th), Perry (7th), Billo (13th) and Long (26th) kicked in for All American finishes, and freshman Paul Alsdorf's 52nd clinched the 83-91 margin over North Central once again. 1996's three All Americans led the team to the conference title and 5th at NCAA's: Alsdorf 10th, Billo 18th, and Matt Buck 23rd. 1997 and 1998 squads ran the streak of conference titles to 5 and regional crowns to 7. In 1998 Alsdorf challenged for the national win, finishing runner-up, while Dan McCue '99 out-kicked 9 runners to place 7th for the best 1-2 punch in Williams harrier history as the team again gained the podium with its 3rd place finish. The 2000 squad featured three All-Americans - Dusty Lopez '01 24th, Tim Campbell '01 31st, and Andy Golden '03 33rd - who led the team to a NESCAC Championship and a 5th place team finish at Nationals.

In 2001, despite losing all three of those All-Americans, Williams managed to qualify for NCAAs for a ninth consecutive year, thanks in part to standouts Wes Reutimann '02 and Karl Remsen ‘03. The 2002 rose to the occasion in the championship season, copping 2nd in the NESCAC conference, 3rd in the New England III region, and finally succeeding all expectations with a remarkable 7th place finish (top New England team) at the NCAA championship. Remsen led the squad all year, ran 24:41, and earned All-American honors (14th place). So did Neal Holtschulte in 22nd place, top first year finisher in the nation! Neal went on to be the top class finisher in the nation each year, taking consecutively 6th, 2nd, and finally National Champ finishes in 2003-2004-2005, to become the first Williams male 4-time cross country All American. He led the team to another 7th and a 6th place at nationals, backed up by Stephen Wills ’07 (30th place All-American in 2005). The 2005 squad showcased team depth by winning the ECAC Championship with the ‘Second Seven’, and the 2006 group repeated, with the top 7 winning the NESCAC title for the first time since 2000, and the New England III region for the first time since 1998. Another great team race garnered a national 7th place finish despite no all-american placers, as Wills, Brendan Christian ’09, Mike Davitian ’07, and Corey Levin ’08 packed in tightly.

The team will return four of its top eight from that team and is dedicatedly training to accomplish equally big things in 2007.

Women's Cross Country at Williams

The women's team has likewise become a force in New England and the nation. In the past 17 years they have won the New England Division III Championships 8 times and finished runner-up 6 more. The team has qualified 14 consecutive years for the NCAA Championship, recording 8 top-5 finishes. The program was initiated in 1976 with Bud Fisher as head coach and sent its first NCAA qualifiers in 1981: All-Americans Sue Marchant (14th) and Liz Martineau (22nd) led the way. Fisher coached 1976-77 and 1980-86 seasons, with Doug Armstrong filling in during 1978 1nd 1979. Larry Bell coached 1987-1990, Rob Colantuono 1991-1992, Monica Egbuonu 1993-1995, and Kristen Morwick 1996-1999. In 1990 five individual Ephs qualified for the NCAA, and then created a team score at nationals good enough for 3rd: Rebecca Adams ’93 12th, Cherie Macauley ’92 20th, Anne Bokman ’91 23rd, Anne Platt ’91 27th and Lindley Hall ’93 64th. In 1995, sophomore Jessica Caley bested the entire field at Nationals to become Division III NCAA Individual Champion. In 2000, under the direction of Pete Farwell for the first time, the women enjoyed their best season in history, ending with a 2nd place finish at the Division III NCAA Championships: Joey Shapiro '01 led the way with a 3rd place finish overall, with Courtney Bennigson '01 and current co-captain Julia Bensen '03 also earning All-American honors. They followed that up with another runner-up finish at NCAAs in 2001, led by All-Americans Jenn Campbell '05 (3rd) and Bensen (6th).

2002 found the Ephwomen on top of nearly every meet, sweeping 3 Invitationals, the NESCAC conference, ECAC, New England III region, and finally NCAA national titles! Co-Captain Bensen was joined up front again by Campbell and first-years Caroline Cretti and Michelle Rorke. With much improved Katie Marsh '05 as 5th runner, the team racked up 5 All-American slots (11-7-5-6-33 respectively). Cretti was the top first year at nationals, and was conference and region athlete of the year for her wins at those meets. Bensen became Williams’ first ever female 3-time x-country All-American. The 2004 squad had a superior final race to wrest the NCAA title away from Middlebury by a 110-129 margin as Campbell and Cretti went 3-4 for the Ephs. Campbell completed her xc career with 4 All-American placings, the first Williams harrier, male or female, to accomplish that feat. The ‘Second Seven’ won the ECAC title for the 3rd consecutive year. Cretti capped her astounding career in 2005 with her 4th New England regional individual title, and a 6th place NCAA finish to a lead the team to a runner-up NCAA finish after a convincing New England title. Also garnering All-American status were Rorke (14th), Liz Gleason ’08 (12th) and Mallory Harlin (28th). Rachel Asher ’09 led the 2006 team to 3rd in conference and region, and then 8th at Nationals, as she placed 31st All-American.

The 2007 team returns all of the top 8, plus 9 of the next 10, to form what will undoubtedly be the deepest squad in Williams women’s cross country history.