Courtesy of Brian Beard

Last Saturday, the cross country teams competed in the Connecticut College Invitational meet. The weekend affirmed the team’s increasingly positive outlook toward the upcoming NESCAC championships on November 2.

Matthew Servin ’27 felt the results from the meet varied amongst the team.

“The results kind of showed a mixed bag …  and were on the two extremes of some people [having] really good races and some people [having] disappointing races,” Servin said.

Despite the “mixed bag” of results the team achieved, Head Coach Ben Raphelson ultimately felt the team met his expectations.

“We ended up finishing about where I expected but didn’t get there in the way I expected to,” Raphelson said. “We had people step up into different roles, which helped average out a day when some people also just were not feeling as good.”

Raphelson added that he saw the team steadily improving despite the different roles team members were placed into.

“There were a lot of eye-popping times,” Raphelson said. “Maybe a good day was dropping 30 seconds off your best time, and we had a lot of people drop more like a minute off their best time. So I think the team draws confidence from that as well.”

Lauren Traum ’24, shouted out three of her teammates’ performances when reminiscing on the notable moments from the weekend.

“I will never forget watching Emma [Randall-Jarrard ’26] and Fiona [Gallagher ’26] fly off the start line with absolute confidence. There was nothing holding them back,” Traum said. “I also remember watching Addison [Davis ’25] come around the final bend with unshakeable momentum and Servin kicking past a dude in the last 100 meters. Watching and cheering during these moments makes me proud to be a part of this team.”

Seamus McDonough ’27 emphasized Traum’s excitement about Davis’s race and expressed further excitement about the team heading to NESCACs soon.

“Davis and Ashton Dunlap [’26] had … breakthrough races.… It was really cool to hear about that because you just know that things are coming together for NESCACs,” McDonough said.

Raphelson also highlighted how well Will Goddard ’25 performed.

“Will Goddard [competed] up front with some really highly accomplished runners. It was a fun test for him,… and I think he handled that really well in a way that gives him confidence going forward,” Raphelson said.

Many members of the team also believe that the meet gave them insight into what the NESCAC championships will look like.

“I think just being comfortable in such a large and competitive field is definitely something that I’m going to take away from the [invite],” Servin said. “And racing around so many people at one time is a much different experience than a smaller meet that we’ve had earlier in the season.”

After this weekend’s performance, the team is looking forward to building off what it has worked for this season.

“We are running into NESCACs with an awareness of our team potential as well as the competitiveness of the league. Coming out of Conn., we understand that there is often much more to gain than to lose in a race setting. We are focusing on competing for each other and cultivating a mindset that every point counts,” Traum said.

When considering challenges across the season as a whole, Servin mentioned patience.

“The most challenging part is to stay patient. And I think that we’ve done a good job with that, but I think we’re all really ready to have a breakout race,” Servin said. “I think that our patience will definitely pay off.”

While being on the home course will bring familiarity to the team, Traum added that running at home for such an important meet could be distracting.

“We need to be tactful in handling the reality that NESCACs is a home meet. There will be friends and family offering their support, and there will also be many visiting teams and distractions,” Traum said. “We need to both soak in the support and stay focused amidst the noise.”

McDonough feels that this meet will be a huge payoff for the team after training and working towards NESCACs for so long.

“I’m most excited just to harvest the fruits of my labor,” McDonough said. “I’ve been working, and the whole team’s been working since track ended back in May, just for this one goal. So I’m just excited to see what my months and months of training will come to.”