Keene State and UMass-Lowell battered the depleted Tufts men's cross country team on Saturday at the Keene State Invitational in New Hampshire. Keene State won the meet with 19 points, while UMass-Lowell gained 65 points to finish a surprising second against a reeling Tufts squad. The Jumbos, who finished with 74 points, competed without the services of their number four runner, junior Jason Mann.
Mann, who has been the Jumbos' fourth runner for the whole season, injured himself during practice last Tuesday. While working out, Mann stumbled and fell, breaking his right wrist and ending any chance that the Jumbos may have had to beat Keene State.
"We took an ass kicking," coach Connie Putnam said. "I don't like to get beat by a team that we already beat (Lowell), but with Mann out of the picture we have a pretty good excuse."
Doctors fitted Mann with a small cast that ends just below his elbow, and, after taking this weekend off, he intends to return to competition next week.
"I'm definitely going to run [this weekend] with it," Mann said. "It is going to affect me but I don't know to what degree."
Even with Mann, the Jumbos would have needed strong showings from their top four runners and a stellar performance from their fifth runner in order to have any chance against the mighty Keene State. The lack of a solid fifth runner has plagued the team all season.
"To have beaten Keene State would have taken a perfect effort and not having him there was a blow to our team," senior co-captain Adrian Wilairat said. "We need Mann."
Mann's injury forced Tufts to run without a top runner in both the fourth and fifth positions. Freshman James Lamoureax tried to fill the gap as best he could, finishing fourth on the team and 25th overall (27:45). Junior Justin Lewis, who was on Lamoureax's tail throughout the race, placed fifth for the Jumbos and 27th in the meet (27:48).
Usually the gap between Jason Mann and the fifth runner is approximately one minute. However, with Mann missing, the hole became even more magnified as the large delta was between the third runner, junior Ben Smith (26:34 and 11th overall) and Lamoureax. Other than Smith, only junior J.R. Cruz (26:04 and fifth overall) and senior co-captain Dave Patterson (26:14 and eighth overall) had impressive races.
While the loss to Lowell was discouraging, it was especially upsetting to Mann. "It's even worse watching your team lose then actually losing," Mann said. "There is no worse feeling than standing on the sideline knowing I could do something if I was running."
With Putnam expecting Mann to return for the All-New England Championships on Friday, Lamoureax and Lewis should slip back into a competition for the fifth spot with Wilairat and sophomore Adam Sharp. More important than their battle with each other is their fight with the clock to improve their times before the big meets at the end of the season. At these meets, the fifth man will have to be on the tail of the fourth runner in order for the team to have any significant success.
Throughout the season both Putnam and his runners have emphasized the importance of developing a strong fifth runner. With the Jumbos entering the second half of their season on Friday, the team realizes that now is the time for one or more of the challengers to emerge.
"Our performance [on Saturday] tells us it is time to get rolling," Wilairat said. "The meet was a wake up call. It's getting towards the middle of the season and the bottom line is that we won't improve if our 5-8 runners don't start running faster. Myself included."
"I feel I have an important role," Lamoureax said. "I'm going to try to live up to what they need me to do."
In spite of Mann's injury and the Jumbos' inability to find a fifth runner, the team remains surprisingly upbeat.
"All you can do is work hard in practice and give it your all in a race," Mann said. "By the [New England] qualifiers I believe we will have a fifth guy. The minute you start to get discouraged you are beating yourself."
The pressure continues this weekend for the struggling Jumbos as they head to Franklin Park on Friday for the All-New England Championships, which features many of the best Div. I, II, and III teams in New England.
"This meet is very reminiscent of how the D-III National Championship goes," Putnam said. "It's a good rehearsal."
"It's an opportunity to run with the top dogs," Wilairat said. "There will be a lot of adrenaline running through our veins."
