Williams Senior Harrier Wins National Honor

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NEW ORLEANS -- The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association has named Williams College senior Colin Cotton the NCAA DIII National Men's Athlete of the Week for his performance at the Saratoga Invitational hosted by RPI.

Running in the event that the USTFCCCA had dubbed the DIII Meet of the Week in a field of more than 200 runners, Cotton finished ahead of NYU's John Lake and junior teammate Bijan Mazaheri.

Cotton was timed in 18 minutes, 45.5 seconds on the 6-kilometer course.

The lone returning All-American from the Ephs' 2013 NCAA team that finished fourth, Cotton served early notice that he is working hard to improve on his 22nd place finish at last year's NCAA Championships.

Long time Eph head coach Pete Farwell was impressed with Cotton's performance, exclaiming on Saturday that, "Colin looked tremendous in his win."

Cotton and his Eph teammates will next be in action on Sept. 27 when Williams hosts the Purple Valley Classic on their home course at Mount Greylock Regional School.

With the course at Mt. Greylock serving as the site of the 2014 NCAA DIII New England Qualifier Race on Nov. 15, a large and competitive field is expected to compete.

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Williams Seeking Town Approval for New Indoor Practice Facility

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board last week gave Williams College the first approval it needs to build a 55,000-square foot indoor athletic facility on the north side of its campus.
 
Over the strenuous objection of a Southworth Street resident, the board found that the college's plan for a "multipurpose recreation center" or MRC off Stetson Road has adequate on-site parking to accommodate its use as an indoor practice facility to replace Towne Field House, which has been out of commission since last spring and was demolished this winter.
 
The college plans a pre-engineered metal that includes a 200-meter track ringing several tennis courts, storage for teams, restrooms, showers and a training room. The athletic surface also would be used as winter practice space for the school's softball and baseball teams, who, like tennis and indoor track, used to use the field house off Latham Street.
 
Since the planned structure is in the watershed of Eph's Pond, the college will be before the Conservation Commission with the project.
 
It also will be before the Zoning Board of Appeals, on Thursday, for a Development Plan Review and relief from the town bylaw limiting buildings to 35 feet in height. The new structure is designed to have a maximum height of 53 1/2 feet and an average roof height of 47 feet.
 
The additional height is needed for two reasons: to meet the NCAA requirement for clearance above center court on a competitive tennis surface (35 feet) and to include, on one side, a climbing wall, an element also lost when Towne Field House was razed.
 
The Planning Board had a few issues to resolve at its March 12 meeting. The most heavily discussed involved the parking determination for a use not listed in the town's zoning bylaws and a decision on whether access from town roads to the building site in the middle of Williams' campus was "functionally equivalent" to the access that would be required under the town's subdivision rules and regulations.
 
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