City Slickers

NYU wins first men's NCAA championship, Amherst takes women's race

Nov. 17, 2007

By Lauren Melcher

Special to CSTV.com

Northfield, Minn. - The snow-dusted trails of rural Minnesota were a stark contrast to the city bike paths and state parks where the New York University men's team usually trains. But the challenge did not keep them from winning their first NCAA championship today on the St. Olaf College trails in Northfield, Minn.

NYU finished with 128 points, with Haverford taking second (150 points) and Cortland State coming in third (158 points). Haverford was ranked only sixth coming into the race, and NYU was ranked second. Calvin, ranked first before the championship race, finished fourth.

The women of Amherst College in Amherst, Mass. also brought their school its first national cross-country title today, after losing by one point to Middlebury College at last year's championship.

"We have had that reminder all season," said Coach Erik Nedeau, "and it has been a great inspiration to make things happen."

The women finished with 120 points, followed by Plattsburgh State (159 points) and Washington University (194 points).

Tyler Sigl, a senior from UW-Platteville, won with his championship-winning time of 24:24 in the Men's 8000-meter race. Sigl is a four-time All-American and was today named NCAA Division III Athlete of the Year for men's cross-country. As a sophomore in high school, he left his starting position on the football team to run cross-country for the first time.

"My family was pretty shocked at the time," he said, "but I think it was a smart decision."

Sigl ran shoulder-to-shoulder with second-place finisher, Peter Kosgei of Hamilton (24:37), for most of the race, then pulled ahead in the last 500 meters to take the win.

Chris Erichsen, the third-place finisher from St. John's University (Minn.), ended his high school cross-country career on the same St. Olaf course.

"When I came in third place back then, I was pretty disappointed," he admitted. "But finishing third this year is definitely a different feeling."

Sarah Zerzan of Willamette University in Salem, Ore., took first place in the women's race for the second year in a row with a time of 20:54. She is only the third woman in NCAA Division III history to win a consecutive championship.

"It's never easy to win - there are a lot of exceptional runners out there," she said from the stage in Skoglund Gym. "You just have to do your best." And despite this race being her first experience running in snow, she did exactly that.

Liz Montgomery, running for Geneseo State, finished second (21:17) followed by Alexandra Krieg of Middlebury (21:23). Geneseo finished fifth overall, but Montgomery and her co-captain Meghan Nolan were proud of their team's showing in the championships.

"In the last three years, we've definitely stepped [our program] up a level," Nolan said.

About three dozen fans from Geneseo drove out to Minnesota from western New York to cheer on their teams in both the men's and women's races.

Calvin led the meet with three All-American finishers, followed by NYU and seven other schools that had two All-American runners each. Tufts and Washington University each had three All-American runners on the women's side.

But the day still belonged to the men from NYU, who made it to the championships five years ago for the very first time. Coming into the race undefeated in their season, the team was still only ranked second.

"We knew that if we had a bad day, we wouldn't do well at all," said Hany Abdallah, one of the team's co-captains. "I didn't feel well and Jesse [Schneider] didn't race as well as he could, but for putting all the weight on our fourth and fifth men, we did really well."

Abdullah led the team with his ninth-place finish (24:52), but the men's performance was really a "quintessential team effort" according to Schneider, who finished 21st overall and second for NYU.

"In the first mile, I got pushed back and I had to work really hard to get back up in front," Schneider said. "James [McCarthy] and Spencer [Popeson] really held us together."

"I didn't feel too good at the mile," admitted Abdallah. "But I knew I couldn't back off - I had to finish for my team no matter what everyone else did."

Co-captain Ryan Williams was expected to finish in the top ten, but got knocked down only 1000 meters into the race and struggled to regain his place at the front of the pack.

 "Our expectation coming into the season after last year was to win," said coach Nick McDonough, who was named Men's National Coach of the Year.

Despite some major setbacks, like losing one of their best runners to a stress reaction early in the season, the team forged ahead toward the championships, sometimes driving 20-30 minutes out of Manhattan to train in nearby state parks.

"They're a very tight-knit group of guys," McDonough said. "It is one of the closest groups since I've been in coaching - they're just there for each other."

The team camaraderie was hard to miss when the team found out they had won their first national championship. More than 40 students, parents and NYU alumni crowded around the team as they celebrated with showers of sparkling cider in the field house at St. Olaf.

At the same time, the women from Amherst were wrapping themselves in the championship meet banner, wearing leis from teammate Nicole Anderson's mother, who brought them from their home in Hawaii.

Coach Nedeau, "Ned" to the girls, recruited the team's seniors four years ago with the promise of a national championship.

"I told them that, with their help, [Amherst] could build a program [that would win a championship]. They believed it, and have gotten better each year," he said.

The team credits their success to Nedeau's philosophy of accountability.

"You have your niche on the team, and you have to be there for your team," explained Elise Tropiano, who finished 22nd in the meet and second for Amherst. "I told myself, `You have to move yourself because being 40th at the 3-mile mark isn't your niche. We know that every point counts."

The team has been ranked first in Division III for most of the season and had high expectations coming off of their second-place finish at last year's championships. One of their biggest challenges was not being able to race against some of the other top national teams, like Geneseo, Calvin, and Washington University.

"We thought we were doing well, but their times were a lot faster," said co-captain Heather Wilson.

But the St. Olaf course, with its rolling hills and hard ground from recent cold weather, was the perfect place for Amherst to make its mark.

"From a training perspective, we covered all our bases," Nedeau said. The women felt comfortable in the hilly terrain and chilly conditions after running all season on similar courses at home.

But the women didn't always think the season would end with a national championship victory.

"At the mid-way point in the season, Ned reminded us that we weren't running like a team who would win the championship," Wilson said. Her co-captain, Kim Partee, also faced her most difficult season ever, recovering from an injury and anemia. "

I could barely run ten minutes without walking at the beginning of the season," Partee said. "But the team stuck with me, and Ned believed in me. Everyone was so supportive.

"It was a great way to end the season," Partee said, "and very different from how it began."

The women credited their "incredible team" back home, as well as the support of Nedeau, who was named Women's National Coach of the Year.

Said Wilson with a smile, "this was all we wanted."