MASON, Ohio – The Williams College men’s cross country team competed Saturday at the NCAA Division III Championship hosted by Wilmington College.

 

The Ephs were one of 32 teams who qualified for the meet based on their performance at last week’s Regional Championships.  Additionally, 56 individuals qualified to run unattached at the meet for a total of 280 competitors.

 

Running against the best in Division III, the Ephs took sixth place with a score of 214 points. Powerhouse North Central won the meet with 130 points over defending champion St. Olaf, who scored 143.

 

With the win, North Central claimed itstheir 16th NCAA title in team history. To put this in perspective, Williams is one of only three other teams to have won more than one NCAA championship.

 

As has been the case all season long, senior Colin Cotton had an outstanding performance as Williams’ lead runner. From the start, Cotton looked relaxed as he ran in the lead pack.  In what has been his dominant strategy, Cotton was patient and made his move with about a mile to go. The only other runner to go with him was St. Olaf’s Grant Wintheiser. Together these runners opened up more than a 50-meter gap on the rest of the field.

 

In the end, Wintheiser took the individual title with a time of 23:44. Cotton was the runner-up and broke his own Williams record in the 8k, coming through in 23 minutes, 51 seconds. As one of the meet’s top 35 individuals, Cotton was named all-America for the second consecutive year. His performance is the best by an Eph since Neal Holtschulte was national champion in 2005. 

 

“Colin has come a long way in the three seasons he’s ran with us,” said head coach Pete Farwell, “both as a runner and as a teammate.  He’s been a real leader this year, showing others how to train well and achieve a good balance.  You don’t become second in the country without lots of hard work.” 

 

Cotton improved greatly from a 22nd place finish at the 2013 NCAA Championship.  “He’s always been a good trainer,” noted Farwell, “but this year he’s become a consummate racer and learned how to win.  Today he played his cards perfectly.  Every step was just right.  I’ve never seen such a beautiful race.”

 

Also earning all-America honors with a 15th place finish was junior Bijan Mazaheri. He started off comfortably near the back of the second pack, gradually picking up his pace as the race continued. In 16th place rounding the final loop, Mazaheri dug deep to execute a late pass and crack the top fifteen. His finishing time was a new personal best of 24:23.