The struggling Jumbos finished in fourth place Saturday behind Williams, Bowdoin, and Trinity at the NESCAC Championships at Amherst College. Tufts managed to score only 115 points in what was their most frustrating performance of the season.
"It was a disappointment," senior co-captain Adrian Wilairat said. "It's tough to swallow. Finishing fourth at NESCACs [leaves] an unnecessary bad mark on our program."
While the team did place a disappointing fourth overall, the poor showing was at least partially the result of injuries to its top runners, junior J.R. Cruz and junior Justin Lewis. Both runners withdrew from the race for medical reasons.
Lewis has been suffering from an injury to his quadriceps, which had been bothering him leading up to NESCACs, and the probability of his running in the meet had been 50-50. Cruz's injury was more sudden, as he came down with inflammation in his left knee at the end of last week. He planned to run until minutes before the meet, when coach Connie Putnam told him not to compete.
"If he didn't say anything, I would have run," Cruz said. "I was really upset that I didn't get to run. I felt helpless."
Cruz's injury was the third serious medical problem that the team suffered through last week. On Thursday, Putnam tore his Achilles tendon while working at a high school meet. Despite his crutches, the coach managed to travel with his team on Saturday before having surgery on Sunday.
"Everybody is falling like flies," Cruz said. "[Putnam] was just running up a slope and his Achilles snapped."
"We were beat up going into the race," Wilairat said. "We weren't feeling our strongest. We couldn't cover for those [injured] guys. You have to cover for your teammates, and we didn't."
Interestingly, in a race plagued with injury and aggravation, one Jumbo runner who did shine was junior Jason Mann, finally returning to form after breaking his wrist approximately three weeks ago.
Mann (16th overall at 27:04), senior co-captain Dave Patterson (fourth overall at 26:18), and junior Ben Smith (18th overall at 27:14) all had good races in a losing effort. Freshman James Lamoureux (30th overall 27:39) continues to see his performances improve regularly.
In addition to injuries, the course itself, which combines hills, grass, and woody areas, played a roll in slower times, as Patterson was the only Jumbo runner to finish the race in under twenty-seven minutes.
"The course was pretty slow," Patterson said. "The woods were quick but the grass [area] was soft and wet."
In spite of their troubling fourth place finish, the Jumbos remain confident that their performance was just an aberration.
"I think we would have done better [were it not for the injuries]," Patterson said. "We probably would have beaten [Bowdoin and Trinity.] I don't think we could have beaten Williams. It would have taken a really good race."
"We definitely would have finished second if we had [Cruz and Lewis]," Wilairat said. "But it's not an excuse."
"It sucks that we lost but we're taking it as a wakeup call," Cruz said.
On a brighter note for the struggling Jumbos squad, Cruz felt comfortable during a light workout on Sunday afternoon.
"I ran a short distance today and [my knee] was feeling good," Cruz said.
While both Cruz and Lewis expect to return to practice this week, it is unclear how long Putnam will be out of commission.
"[Putnam's] health should be his priority for these next few days," Wilairat said. "If he needs to stay home and recover, he should. [Patterson] and I are used to leading practices."
The Jumbos must pray for renewed health if they expect to successfully defend their ECAC title on Saturday. Last year, not only did Tufts win the meet, but the team also featured the individual champion, Steve Kaye.
"We will probably run one speed workout then distance workouts for the rest of the week," Wilairat said.
The large meet will also give the Jumbos a chance to fine tune themselves and experience an atmosphere similar to what they will deal with for national qualifiers and nationals in the upcoming weeks.
"There are lots of teams and it is very competitive," Patterson said. "It is a good chance to get in a good race with a lot of teams."
