The women's cross country team traveled to Westfield State Saturday hoping to qualify for the NCAA championships. Despite strong individual efforts, the team finished tenth out of 35 teams, thus ending its season.
Middlebury, Williams, and Amherst had dominated meets all year, so the rest of the 35-team field was seemingly shooting for the fourth and final team qualifying spot. However, the quest to have an individual runner named to the All-New England team by placing in the top 35 was wide open for Tufts.
As expected, Middlebury finished first with 65 points, Williams was second with 76, and Amherst was third with 86 points. In the battle for the fourth and final spot, Brandeis edged Trinity by scoring 163 points to their 169. The Jumbos finished tenth overall with 299 points, beating conference foe Colby by 13 points.
"We finished about what we should have - top ten. It is where we were ranked all season," coach Kristen Morwick said. "Everyone ran a personal best."
Junior Aly White continued to show vast improvement and was the first Jumbo to cross the finish line, placing 44th with a time of 18:55. White missed All-New England status by a mere nine places and only ten seconds. This was an incredible race for White, considering that she fell down in the first mile of the race.
White "has been on the climb all year, she has been looking better every week," Morwick said. "If we had more races, she would continue to do well."
Sophomore standout Lauren Caputo (18:58) was only three seconds off of White's pace, as she finished 47th overall. Caputo had been the first Jumbo to cross the finish line in each of the last three races she was in, and her time this Saturday was a personal best.
"It was about what she had been doing," Morwick said.
A little off White and Caputo's pace was sophomore Katie Mason, who finished 66th with a time of 19:24. Mason, who usually does not place in the top five for Tufts, raced her way into the top three of the team's finishers.
"Katie ran a good race, she continues to improve," Morwick said.
Senior Heather Ballantyne and sophomore Lauren Dunn finished the race neck and neck. Ballantyne finished 73rd and Dunn 74th, both with a time of 19:31. "If Heather was not sick, she would have been right there with," White, Caputo, and Mason, Morwick said.
The course is very narrow and easy to get caught up in, which adversely affected Dunn. "Dunn got caught up in packs and couldn't feel her way through the course like she wanted to," Morwick said.
Finishing sixth and seventh for Tufts were junior Heidi Tyson and freshman Rachel Brandenburg. They were 81st and 82nd overall with times of 19:37 and 19:38 respectively. The two did not break strategy and continued to run in a pack.
Because the team did not finish in the top four, this was the last meet for it. Overall, the coach felt that the team did a good job overcoming early injuries and setbacks and finished on track. "This was a rebuilding year, but we ran well," Morwick said.
The team's core is young, only losing one runner in the top five to graduation, Heather Ballantyne. "Mary Nodine and Rachel Brandenburg are going to be healthy next year," Morwick. "The team will be a whole lot better next year and years to come."
