The men's cross country team bounced back from a dismal showing at the NESCAC championships last weekend to win the ECACs on Saturday. Junior J.R. Cruz highlighted the Jumbos' victory winning his first individual championship in a sparkling time of 26:10.
"Before the race I didn't actually feel that great," Cruz said. "But the race went out really fast, and I found myself in the front. The first mile I didn't feel that good, and then I just got rolling."
The victory was especially rewarding for Cruz, who missed the NESCAC championships because of inflammation in his left knee. With his injury heeled, Cruz dominated the field, which consisted of 241 runners from 33 different schools.
"It was good to get a solid victory," senior co-captain Adrian Wilairat said. "The victory gives us a lot of confidence going into the New England [Regional] Championships."
The meet also marked the impressive return of junior Justin Lewis, who also missed the previous race. Only minutes before Saturday's meet, Lewis' status was still up in the air. Finally, after discussing it with coach Connie Putnam, Lewis decided to compete.
Coming off a quadricep injury that had hampered him in past weeks, Lewis pulled off a shocking tenth place finish (third on team, 27:19.6), almost 40 seconds better than his prior career best at Grafton.
"[Cruz] ran strong, smart, and he couldn't have run a better race," Wilairat said. "This bodes well for next weekend. [Lewis] ran even better than he thought he was going to run. His quad was sore but he ran really well in the second half [of the race]."
"[Lewis] has been going through a period of staleness from over-training," Putnam said. "He was a little ambivalent about running [before the race]."
After the race it was clear that Lewis is no longer a question mark. "[Lewis] was awesome," Cruz said. "He's back."
Junior Jason Mann proved that he has returned to championship condition, after struggling for weeks to adjust to running with a cast on his right arm. He finished fifth overall (27:19.6). Sophomore Adam Sharp, who placed 22nd (27.59.9) and Wilairat, 33rd (28.22.6), rounded out the Jumbos' top five.
While Tufts dominated the race, beating New England powerhouses Williams and Keene State, the Jumbos' win came with an asterisk. The victory was somewhat misleading as most teams rested the majority of their top seven runners in preparation for the Regional Championships this weekend at UMASS Dartmouth.
"Traditionally ECACs is a time for resting," Cruz said. "[Williams and Keene State] didn't run their top seven, but it is nice see [us beat them] on paper. But we know for a fact they didn't run their top seven."
"Beating [Williams and Keene State] at ECACs is not an indication of how we will do against them this weekend," Wilairat said. "They were resting their top runners. The teams that Keene State and Williams field will be much different."
"I don't think in any sense of the word that we avenged [our losses to Williams and Keene State]," Putnam said.
The Jumbos will be much stronger next weekend with the return of senior co-captain, Dave Patterson, junior Ben Smith, and freshman James Lamoureux, who all took the weekend off in preparation for the important meet on Saturday. How Tufts runs will determine whether or not it qualifies for the National Championships in Washington.
After an easy week of light practices, the team heads to Dartmouth, where they will stay in a hotel on Friday night.
"It's going to be a wild and crazy race," Wilairat said. "It's going to be tough. We expect to run at Nationals but in order to do that we have to qualify. The two races we focus on all year are Regionals and Nationals."
To ready themselves for next weekend's race, the Jumbos practiced on the Dartmouth course on Sunday afternoon. While the course is in good condition, the start has the potential to be very hazardous for the runners. Approximately 150 meters from the starting line, runners have to go around a sharp turn where there will be a lot of jockeying for position. If the Jumbos expect to compete for the championship, a quick start is imperative.
"[The race] is going to be fast so [we] have to go out hard," Wilairat said. "Anything can happen in a race like this."
The Jumbos will consider anything less than earning one of New England's five spots in the national championship race a disappointment.
"We expect to qualify [for Nationals]," Cruz said. "We expect to have a great race against Keene State and Williams and [hopefully] avenge our losses against them. As long as we are on that plane [to Nationals], we'll be happy."
"If we run well we could beat MIT and be the third team [of five to qualify for nationals]," Putnam said. "If we run out of our minds we could give Williams a good test."
