Men's cross country poised for largest meet of the year

With about 50 teams and approximately 350 runners from top Div. I, II and III schools, Friday afternoon's All-New England Championship meet at Franklin Park could be the men's cross country team's most difficult test yet.

This weekend's meet "will not be your usual weekend jog," coach Connie Putnam said.

The course at Franklin is not as strenuous as other's that the team has competed on this season, but Putnam expects the mass of runners to make the course that much more difficult.

"This situation has a lot of potential pitfalls," Putnam said. "There are a lot of runners, and you're packed in really tightly. You have to make decisions; do you try to stay with a group and maybe get pushed beyond your pace? You can get caught in a slow pack that's hard to escape from. You can get too excited and start out too fast. You need to be consistent."

Providence dominated last year's All-New England Championships, as the team placed runners first, second, third, fifth, and sixth overall.

The Jumbos also did well in the meet, as they finished tenth out of 42 schools and first among Div. III schools. Tufts beat out Bowdoin, MIT, Keene St., Williams, Bates, and Amherst, among others.

"If we finish in the top ten again this year, with the young team we have, I would probably go out and celebrate," Putnam said. "This will be the largest race most of these guys have ever run in. It can be overwhelming, but at the same time, a lot of fun."

Junior Brian McNamara, who is currently injured but ran in the race last year, agreed.

"It's a great race," McNamara said. "It sort of simulates the NCAAs, so that's a good experience."

A strong finish for the Jumbos could give them NESCAC bragging rights for the entire year. "I think it's important, because it's for pride," Putnam said. "But I try not to make it too important to the kids, because it's a tough race with a lot of teams and people."

How intense will the competition be? Consider that the fastest time this year for a Jumbo is Nate Brigham's 26:33, which would have earned him 90th overall in last year's New England Championships.

"There will be Div. I kids running their first mile at 4:30," Putnam said. "You shouldn't get yourself too emotionally attached to any one race with all the other ones we've got coming up. From here on out, every meet will be significant."

So far Putnam's squad has finished near the top of the pack in three of its four meets this season. The team opened the year by running to a second place finish at the Hayseed Classic and placed seventh out of 31 teams at the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational on Sept. 21. Two weekends ago, at the Jumbo Invitational, the team finished second to Amherst out of six teams. This result was somewhat disappointing since the team was gunning for first and fell short by only four points.

The team's worst showing, at least on paper, came during its second meet of the season, the Dartmouth Invitational. There the team finished fifth out of sixth teams, behind extremely strong competition such as Div. I powers Dartmouth and Providence, Div. II Lowell, and Keene State, who may be the best Div. III team in New England.

The Jumbos will follow up this weekend's meet with the James Early Invite on Oct. 19, which will give the team a sneak peek at the Westfield State course, where the NCAA New England Championship will be held. After another bye week, the team winds down its season with an extremely busy November: the NESCAC Championship at Grafton on Nov. 2, the ECAC Championships at Williams on Nov. 11, and the NCAA qualifiers at Westfield on Nov. 16.

"After that," Putnam said, "where we go is up to us."