Jumbos finish well at New England Championships

A cool, damp day well-suited for cross-country running set the tone as the women's cross country team competed in a pool of 512 athletes at the New England Women's Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships. In a competitive field of 42 scoring teams, Tufts ended the day at 18th overall and fifth within the NESCAC, a result consistent with what the team had hoped to accomplish.

Though winning was not a viable option with a slew of Division I and II teams in the mix, contending with the other NESCAC squads was, as well as improving upon the results of last year. One year ago, the Jumbos placed 23rd of 35 teams and came ninth among the NESCAC teams. This time, the team came out on top of the likes of Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin and Connecticut College.

"Last year three of us broke 20 minutes, this time seven of us did," senior Danielle Perrin said. "We only lost one runner from the top seven from last year, so the people remaining are just older and more mature. We have more confidence this time around."

Not only was the team finish more impressive this time around, but several individual performances also bode well for the success of the program as the postseason approaches. Freshman Becca Ades has shown continued improvement over the past weeks, and had another breakout race this weekend. Ades was the second Jumbo to cross the finish line with her 87th place overall finish, doing so in a clear personal record of 19:11.

"The beginning of the season was a bit of a transition from high school, but this week I just had a good race on a course that was really fast," Ades said. "Everyone did really well and we beat the teams we wanted to so I'm happy about that."

Joining her teammate in attaining season-low PRs was junior Lauren Caputo, who improved on her mark by 30 seconds in her campaign to go sub-19 minutes. Caputo again lead by example this weekend, heading the herd of Jumbos en route to a 53rd place individual finish in 18:49.

Senior co-captain Mary Nodine came in at 116th in a time of 19:29 and third for the team, showing more comfort after coming off a two-year hiatus from competition. The scoring five runners were rounded out by junior Lauren Dunn (19:33) at 121st and senior Heidi Tyson (19:46) at 144th, to give Tufts a total of 521 team points in the varsity race.

"We had one workout this week and people were prepared for the fast course," coach Kristen Morwick said. "It went really well for us, we had a smart race and it was a big confidence boost."

The varsity race was not the only one to produce positive results, as a few performances indicated in the Open race. Perrin ran to a 13th place individual finish in at a fair clip, finishing in a time of 19:25 that would have put her at third on the team in the varsity race.

"It felt awesome, I usually do better on flat courses like the one at Franklin Park. I just had a good attitude and that's very important in a cross-country because it's such a mental sport," Perrin said.

Eleven spots back was senior Kristen Munson, who completed the course in 19:44, with senior Ashley Peterson following 20 seconds behind in 33rd place. Both times put Munson and Peterson in the top seven in the varsity contest, with Munson within the top five for the team.

"We had five people at 19:30 or better, there were some of the best performances of the season and a vast majority of the team PR'ed. We're getting to a better point in the season," Coach Morwick said.

The pack that plays to the strength of the Jumbos was evident in the standings of both the varsity and open races. Even though runners were placed in different races, they were interchangeable between the two races, showing that everyone on the team has the ability to contribute.

In order to see success in the postseason, the squad will have to continue to have races like this one where everyone is in sync and competes well on the same day. This coming weekend's James Earl Invite at Westfield State will provide an opportunity for the team to build upon the success of this past weekend. It will also allow the team a preview of the same course that the NCAA New England Championship meet will be held on Nov. 16.

"We want to keep the momentum going while getting a look at 6K course that we'll be seeing later," senior co-captain Sarah Foss said. "It's been going well, we're getting faster every week and working together as a team which is good because our strength is going to be in our pack."