Looking toward the women's cross-country NCAA Regional Championship at Westfield State University this Saturday, coach Kristen Morwick chose to rest her top seven runners at last weekend's ECAC Championship.
With most of the top competition opting for a similar lineup, including Amherst, Williams, and Middlebury, the meet retained a standard of competitiveness. The Jumbos second seven runners proved to be worthy opponents in the field at large, finishing 11th out of 33 teams.
But the revised squad was not able to keep up with its NESCAC adversaries, finishing behind six NESCAC teams and above only one. Amherst (44), Williams (108), and Middlebury (116) finished 1-2-3, showing how strong the NESCAC is compared to the rest of New England. Tufts finished just one point behind Connecticut College with 272 points, but well ahead of 12th place Springfield College (305), which raced its top seven runners.
Despite the squad's disappointing placement among NESCAC rivals, the Jumbos saw some strong individual performances. Junior Sarah Foss was the first Jumbo to finish the race, placing 21st overall with a time of 20:24. "Sarah is on the climb now," Deeb said. "She had a slow start to the season, but has gotten better each week. She is a solid eight for us, an alternate this weekend."
Foss incorporated smart strategy for the hilly terrain to accompany her natural talent. Her efforts nearly landed her all-ECAC honors, which is awarded to the top 15 finishers. "Sarah ran a very smart, well-paced race and covered the hilly, challenging Williams course," Morwick said.
Finishing 34 seconds behind Foss with a time of 20:58 was fellow junior Kristen Munson. Munson came into her own on the Williams College course to place 49th overall. "It was a better day for [Munson]," Deeb said. "She is very capable. It was a good course for her."
The last three scorers for the team finished within 13 seconds of each other. Placing 69th was junior Danielle Perrin who crossed the line at 21:20. The next Jumbo was junior Ashley Peterson (21:26) finishing 72nd overall. Senior Monika Navarro was the final point scorer for the Jumbos, placing 78th with a time of 21:33. Sophomore Emily Craighead was the sixth Jumbo to finish and the 87th overall with a mark of 21:45.
"Danielle, Ashley, Monika, and Emily Craighead ran together for the majority of the race," Deeb said. "Danielle started out the race slow and caught up with the group," Deeb said. "It's always better to run with teammates."
Rounding out the finishers for Tufts was freshman Emily Pfeil, who placed 113th with a time of 22:21. "They ran well, everyone did," Deeb said of the team's performance. "It was a challenging course, very competitive."
Morwick agreed with her assistant coach's assessment. "The group ran an intelligent race, going out relaxed in the first, very hilly mile, coming back strong to out kick several runners at the finish," she said.
At the top of the roster, the top seven are preparing for the Regionals this weekend. "We are tapering, cutting back our mileage," Deeb said. "We are resting their bodies for the weekend so people can run well."
The team will enter its top seven runners in the New England qualifiers this weekend. From that race the top four teams and top nine individuals who are not already on qualifying teams become eligible for the nationals. Tufts' chances of qualifying for Nationals seem slim, however, at least in the team competition. "The region is very strong, we don't anticipate the team will make it," Deeb said. "We are not really sure how the individual race will go."
The women will take to the course Saturday, at 11 a.m.
