WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Twenty-six teams from across the Northeast traveled to Williamstown for the annual Purple Valley Classic

 

Among the field were nationally ranked squads from Williams (sixth), MIT (eighth), Colby (17th), Amherst (21st), Middlebury (29th), and Tufts (30th).

 

The 8-kilometer course at Mount Greylock Regional  School is traditionally challenging, often producing results a full minute slower than expected. The high temperature of 78 degrees made for a beautiful day but a tough race. Many of these teams will expect to be back in Williamstown for the NCAA DIII New England Regional Championship on Nov. 15.

 

Sophomore David Chelimo of Colby College won the men’s 8k in a time of 25 minutes, 42 seconds and led his team to victory over several NESCAC rivals

 

Williams senior Colin Cotton and junior Bijan Mazaheri were the second and third finishers, in 25:45 and 26:15, respectively. Freshman Mohamed Hussein of Amherst finished fourth in a time of 26:25 and junior Spencer Wenck of MIT finished fifth in 26:27.

 

Colby packed its top five runners among the top 20 finishers for a team score of 55 points. Not far behind was Williams with 63 points and MIT with 72 points. Amherst was fourth with 89 points, while Tufts was fifth with 120 points.

 

Williams' women finished fourth in the varsity 6K behind MIT, Middlebury and Tufts.

 

MIT ran away with the team title with four runners in the top 10 and 36 points, well ahead of Middelbury's 65 points.

 

MIT's Sarah Quinn won the inidividual title with a time of 22:24. Williams junior Lacey Serletti was fifth, in 22:48.

 

Williams runs in the Paul Short Invitational next week at Lehigh University.