Men's cross country struggles against DI competition

The men's cross country team finished fifth out of six teams at the Dartmouth invitational on Saturday when it placed five runners in the 37th-42nd overall slots. This finish was not disappointing to Jumbo runners, however, given the tough competition and difficult course it faced.

Host Dartmouth, who finished with 25 points, dominated the meet with runners finishing first, second, sixth, seventh, and ninth, while Providence College(62), Keene State (72), and Lowell (80) also finished ahead of the Jumbos.

On the bright side for the Jumbos, they (130) beat NESCAC rival Williams (190) by placing its top six runners ahead of all of Williams' finishers.

Although the team did not fare as well at Dartmouth, its second race of the season, its performance was more than respectable given the intense competition.

"We were running against probably the two best Division I programs in New England, as well as one of the top Division II teams and one of the top Division III teams in the region," junior Jon Rosen said. "So that's probably the best competition we'll face all year. It was a great experience to run against that type of competition."

In the NCAA preseason poll, Providence was ranked eighth and Dartmouth was ranked 19th in Division I, while Keene State was ranked sixth and Williams was ranked 11th in Division III. Tufts received several votes in the poll but did not crack the top 25.

Tufts ran in strong packs, with its top five runners finishing only 13 seconds apart. Freshman Neil Orfield led the team with a time of 27:03 and a finish of 37th, while sophomore Nate Brigham (27:11) followed up his strong lead performance at the Hayseed Classic with second on the team. Freshman Mike Cummings (27:12) and junior captains Peter Bromka (27:13) and Rosen (27:16) completed the course right behind him.

"The first five or six guys finished strong together," Rosen said. "It helps to be out there moving with your own guys, especially when you're passing guys on other teams."

Despite finishing in lower place than at Hayseed, the Jumbos' times at Dartmouth were significantly faster. Freshman Hadrian Engle attributed this to the fact that the Dartmouth course was much easier than the Hayseed course.

"It was on a golf course, so it was a lot flatter. The first two miles were virtually flat, and there were two steep hills near the end, but no long gradual hills, so the times were a little lower," Engle said. "Also a lot of it was in the woods, so it was shadier, and the sun wasn't beating down on us."

Coach Connie Putnam believed that the course itself was actually tougher, and attributed the improved times to improved competition.

"This Saturday we were running at a Nationals qualifying pace, whereas last week [at Hayseed] we ran at a more relaxed pace because our guys were controlling the pace," Putnam said. "This week we had to keep up with some fine runners."

Everyone seemed to agree that the race was a good building block.

"I think it was a solid result for this point in the season. We definitely have a lot of improving to do, but I'm confident that we'll be able to," Rosen said. "The last couple of weeks we've been trying to figure out where guys are, and this helps us know."

"We have some great young runners," Putnam said. "And they had a fine performance against some very good runners.