WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – The Amherst College cross country teams headed to Williams College for the 2008 Purple Valley Classic. The host Ephs came out on top in both the men's and women's races, with the Lord Jeff men placing second and the women finishing third in the 18-team fields.

Reigning NESCAC Cross Country Performer of the Week Elise Tropiano (Plainview, NY) once again paced the Amherst women by winning the individual title, while junior Sophia Galleher (Denver, CO) finished fourth. Tropiano's impressive time of 22 minutes and 0.64 seconds left her more than 29 seconds ahead of runner-up Alexandra Krieg of Middlebury and more than 30 seconds ahead of Williams' Lauren Philbrook.

The Jeffs' four remaining point-scorers each cracked the top 50, with first-year Shannon McKenna (Cedar Falls, IA) placing 25th with a time of 24:12.36. Seniors Zandra Walton (Skaneateles, NY) and Liz Dalton (Wayne, PA) and sophomores Christina Wong (Honolulu, HI) and Melissa Pritchard (Washington, DC) came within 13 seconds and eight places of each other, finishing 43rd, 45th, 48th and 50th, respectively.

On the men's side, the Jeffs placed five runners in the top 20 and were led by junior Dan Murner (Crestwood, KY) and sophomore Will Yochum (Goleta, CA), who finished fourth (26:34) and fifth (26:37), respectively. Sophomore Ben Mears (Macedon, NY) followed in 13th place with a time of 26:53, junior Eric Holaday (Moorestown, NJ) was close behind in 15th (27:00), and junior Carlyle Eubank (Santa Ynez, CA) finished in 27:09 to land in 19th place.

Senior Harrison Lakehomer (Eugene, OR) and junior Jimmy Swanson (New Orleans, LA) rounded out the Amherst scoring and placed 23rd (27:13) and 36th (27:29), respectively. Williams placed five runners in the top 12 but edged out the Lord Jeffs by only 15 points, with Dartmouth finishing 44 points behind Amherst in third place.

The Lord Jeffs return to action Saturday, Oct. 11 when they head to Franklin Park for the Open New England Championships.

WILLIAMS COLLEGE PURPLE VALLEY CLASSIC 6K WOMEN'S RESULTS
Top Team Results
1. Williams (38)
2. Middlebury (66)
3. Amherst (99)

Top Individual Results
1. Elise Tropiano, Amherst (22:00.64)
2. Alex Krieg, Middlebury (22:29.75)
3. Lauren Philbrook, Williams (22:32.24)

Top Amherst Individual Results
1. Elise Tropiano (22:00.64)
4. Sophia Galleher (23:04.22)
25. Shannon McKenna (24:12.36)
43. Zandra Walton (24:40.84)
45. Liz Dalton (24:45.79)

WILLIAMS COLLEGE PURPLE VALLEY CLASSIC 8K MEN'S RESULTS
Top Team Results
1. Williams (41)
2. Amherst (56)
3. Dartmouth (100)

Top Individual Results
1. Edgar Kosgey, Williams (25:48)
2. Ethan Shaw, Dartmouth (26:25)
3. Avery Bouchard, Bridgewater State (26:29)

Top Amherst Individual Results
4. Dan Murner (26:34)
5. Will Yochum (26:37)
13. Ben Mears (26:53)
15. Eric Holaday (27:00)
19. Carlyle Eubank (27:09)