The women's cross country team finished fourth out of six teams at last Saturday's Jumbo Invitational, doubling the nearest team's point total.
Tufts scored 135 points, well behind third place Amherst, which totaled 64. The young Jumbos continued to struggle against strong NESCAC competition - Middlebury won the meet with 35 points, and Williams finished second (54).
Coach Kristin Morwick thought the team fared well in light of its competition.
"The meet went pretty well," Morwick said. "Considering the teams we faced, we finished where we expected."
Senior co-captain Heather Ballantyne (19:28.70) placed 15th overall and was the team's top finisher. Ballantyne improved sharply from last year, when she completed the same race in 19:45.10.
"Heather had a great race," Morwick said. "She had a real good time for Grafton, it's a tough course...She had a breakthrough."
Sophomores Lauren Dunn and Lauren Caputo have joined forces during the last two meets, finishing one behind the other two weeks ago at the Codfish Bowl and then again on Saturday at Grafton. Dunn crossed the finish line 24th (19:57.40) and Caputo 28th (20:02.30). Dunn and Caputo, who run better on flat courses, did not race as a pair last year.
"It's good to see them run together this year," Morwick said.
Rounding out the top five were junior Heidi Tyson, who finished 31st with a time of 20:11.50, and sophomore Katie Mason, who ended up in 36th (20:22.40).
"Our 1-5 runners were 54 seconds apart and our 1-7 runners were separated by 1:08 because our top runner (Ballantyne) did so well, we had very good spacing," Morwick said.
Morwick encourages her team to work together and run as a group. "As many that can run with you the
better," Morwick said. "It is intimidating to other teams and it is mentally good to run with teammates."
Of the 28 Jumbos who competed in the race, the top 20 finished the course in under 22 minutes.
"We demonstrated that our strength lies in how we pack together, and everyone on the team was elated to have run personal records on the home course," said senior Monika Navarro, who finished in 44th place with a time of 20:36. "We still have a lot of work to do, but we intend to be competitive with teams like Connecticut College, Wesleyan, and Trinity in the championship races."
For that to happen, a couple of the Jumbos' key runners will need to rebound from injuries. Junior Mary Nodine is sitting out with a stress fracture, but has begun working out in the pool, weight room, and biking.
"We get her back and we are in a lot better shape," Morwick said.
Junior Kristen Munson also did not participate in last weekend's invitational because of an injury. Although freshman Rachel Brandenburg did run and has improved of late, she too is coming off a stress fracture sustained during the summer.
"Rachel is only going to get better," Morwick said. Brandenburg finished 45th in a time of 20:37.30.
"We beat some very strong runners we would not have beat two weeks ago," Morwick stated. "It was a pretty solid day."
The Jumbos will try to maintain their momentum going into this Friday's Fall Foliage Frolic at Williams - a dual meet pitting the Jumbos directly against the Ephmen. The race is a 4k, as opposed to the normal 5k, and will serve as a prelude to the Oct. 12 New England Championships. The team does not expect to pose a challenge for Williams.
"I think it is nice to race in a dual meet every once in a while," Morwick said of this Friday's meet. "There is no pressure, short course, and we are racing a team we are not supposed to beat."
