September 28, 2013 - Williams College Purple Valley Classic & Insight from Andrew Benfer (So.-1 - Henrico, VA)

One of the toughest regions in Division III Cross Country is New England and the Captains ventured in to that territory to test themselves on Williams College's home course. Over challenging terrain, both squads fared well. The men's squad found themselves setting the early pace as MIT (#5 Nationally) hung back while Williams (#9) and Middlebury (#23) waited on the Engineers. Once the favorites made their move, CNU's pack churned a bit, but held together pretty well with Andrew Benfer leading the way. The women's race started out more aggressively with Middlebury (#8) pushing to upset MIT(#3) and Williams (#4). That stretched the Captains a bit with Emmie Schmitt and Jessica McClelland faring best.

From Andrew Benfer:

Fun in the Big Apple.

This Weekend CNU XC team got to spend their weekend up in the New England territory. I personally loved this weekend because it was practically a homecoming for me since I am from Boston. The weather was perfect all weekend which allowed for optimal race conditions. We had a great showing on both the Men’s and Women’s side and stacked quite nicely against a few nationally ranked opponents.

Friday evening we had a team social with the Williams XC team and perfected the act of whip cream slapping; which is definitely an art we will be sharing with the rest of the CNU Track & Field team. Saturday evening we saw many sites in the Big Apple including: Time Square, The Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, Central Park, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a very long night that will forever be remembered by all of the photographs Coach Barreau and Logan Harrington took with their cameras.

Sunday we woke up to a beautiful morning in NYC and went for a long run in central park. It was extremely beautiful and I think we all enjoyed taking in the view of the city skyline. We then were given some an extra couple of hours to once again go out and explore the vastness of NYC.

Unfortunately our swell weekend had to come to an end as we boarded the bus to head back to CNU. We watched many movies on the ride home and over 10 episodes of the Big Bang Theory which in all honesty I don’t think I could have willed myself to watch anymore. I know this was definitely the most exciting trip I have been a part of so far as a CNU XC/ Track and Field athlete. I definitely in the future that myself and my teammates and continue to go on these exciting business vacations.

From CNUsports.com: