NEWMACS!

The team rose to the occasion beautifully on Saturday at our conference championships. Heading into the meet, we knew it would be a tight battle for the third spot behind nationally-ranked MIT and Wellesley. Although we beat Coast Guard at our home meet in September, we had since lost to Babson, WPI and Springfield. We finished third thanks to outstanding races from our top-5. Emma, Liza and Victoria all ran career personal-bests on the challenging course. The third-place finish ties the team's best performance at Newmacs since 1997. All in all a great day!

1- MIT 24
2-Wellesley 31
3- Smith 121
4- Springfield 136
4- Coast Guard 136
6- Babson 152
7-WPI 180
8-Mt Holyoke 203
9-Clark 231
10- Wheaton 274

Halloween

Per tradition, friday's pre-halloween practice:

The Michigan!

The team seems to dread this workout every year. It is one of our toughest, and this year they knocked it out. Video highlights below

7 Sisters

Enjoy the following pictures from 7 Sisters. It was a fun day for the team. During the race, we held back to work on packing through 2-miles, then we enjoyed mingling with the other teams at the banquet that followed. Good luck spotting the silly one...

Belated Return to Blogging

To our [extremely] loyal followers who may see this message, we'll be back with a flurry of blogs in the next few days as we approach conference and regionals. Videos and pictures to come!

Recognizing Our Seniors - Christine

Christine Dzialo (Belchertown, MA) was one of two seniors on this year's squad. Dzialo was a 4-year member of the Cross Country team at Smith and captain for her junior and senior years. Dzialo's senior season was the most successful of her career. She led Smith in each of the meets she competed in. She finished as runner-up at the 7 Sisters championship in a career-best time of 18:56. Two weeks later she picked up the second XC All-Conference honor of her career at the NEWMAC championships where she finished 8th (her highest placing ever). In her final collegiate cross country race, she turned in a bold performance, crossing the line with a personal-best for 6k and her highest placing ever at the regional meet (39th). Dzialo was a consistent performer for the team throughout the season, but also helped to foster the great team chemistry that developed over the course of the season.

A multi-sport athlete, Dzialo also captains the Smith Swimming and Diving team and found herself competing in the pool just three days after her cross country season ended. Dzialo's coaching staff and teammates will miss her talent, dedication and leadership! Congratulations on a fine senior season and a fine career!

Recognizing Our Seniors - Anna

Anna Cressotti (Southampton, MA) was one of two seniors on this year's squad. Anna was a 3-year member of the Smith Cross Country team (missing her junior year while studying off-campus). Cressotti had a highly decorated career at Smith. She twice won Newmac All-Conference honors and this past year she collected her second Newmac Academic All-Conference honor in cross country. She also won the Seven Sisters championships her sophomore year. She served as captain for this year's team along with Christine Dzialo. Cressotti's season got off to a promising start with a convincing victory at the season-opening Smith Invitational. Her racing was curtailed for the rest of the season due to injury, but she remained an active team member and provided a strong leadership presence for the young team.

The team and coaching staff would like to congratulate Anna on a fine career at Smith. Your presence will be missed!