Brigham earns All-American status, finishes 11th in nation

Sophomore Nate Brigham exceeded all expectations when he finished 11th out of 215 runners at the NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championship Race in Northfield, MN on Saturday to earn Division III Coaches' All-American status.

In what he called "the most ridiculous day of my life," Brigham ran the five-mile course in just 25:30.6, a mere four-tenths of a second out of a top ten.

Brigham's performance not only marked him as an All-American but earned him special recognition from the NCAA. The top 35 finishers in the race were honored as All-Americans while the top 15 finishers also received NCAA plaques.

In a highly strategic race of position battle, Brigham got good position about 1,000 meters into the race and made it through the tight opening two mile stretch, packed with runners in a contending spot. When the pack began to spread out in the middle of the race, Brigham found himself near the back of a pack of about fifteen runners following the leaders.

Steadily surging ahead, Brigham refused to be passed over the last two miles, and peaked at the end, passing four runners over the last 150 miles to capture 11th place.

It was the highest finish in Nationals by a Jumbo since Rod Hemingway captured sixth place in 1997. Brigham's finish was also the best by a Tufts underclassmen since Steve Swift captured 20th as a freshman in 1989.

Although the men's team failed to make the NCAA race, finishing sixth place in the qualifiers. Brigham advanced by virtue of being one of the top New England runners whose team didn't qualify.

"It was difficult to race without my teammates," Brigham said, "but they were there to greet me at the finish line."

Sophomore Brian Mcnamara was one of five of Brigham's teammates who made the trek to the Midwest to support Brigham and came away exhilarated by their teammate's success.

"We were expecting him to maybe finish top fifty if he ran well, top 35 if he ran great," Mcnamara said. "To finish 11th... that's amazing."

"The race was a gritty, position battle and I made some smart decisions," Brigham said. "I just kept telling myself, 'You're in a good spot, if you don't screw up you're an All-American.'"

Coach Putnam seemed more impressed than Brigham himself, citing the race as one of the best run by an underclassman in his 22 years at Tufts.

"I think he realized from last year that if you allow this race to loom larger than it is, you're in trouble," Putnam said, "This time he had the calm, quiet confidence that he was good enough to race with those guys, and he went out and did it."

Last season, the Jumbos qualified for the National Championship race but finished 23rd out of 24 teams, while Brigham finished sixth on the team and 188th overall with a time of 26:56. However, with experience and confidence on his side, this year was a whole different story.

Brigham's performance left no doubt in the minds of the runner and his coach as to how the team would have fared had they run.

"If we had qualified," Brigham said, "we could have finished top sixteen, for sure."

Putnam also thought that Brigham's finish indicated that the team could have had success on the national level. This was also demonstrated by the overall success of NESCAC schools in the meet. From the league, Williams finished seventh overall, Bowdoin eighth, and Connecticut College 20th.

A week after winning the NCAA New England Championships, senior Ryan Bak of Trinity College took home first place on the national level, while Wisconsin Oshkosh claimed the Division III title, placing runners in the second, third, 15th, 16th, and 30th spots.

Despite that the team came up just short of qualifying this year, Brigham's performance left the team feeling optimistic about next year. "Hopefully next year I'll get back there with my team," Brigham said. "I think we can be a force to be reckoned with."

"It will be easier next year having a leader who has already raced in two NCAA races and is an All-American," Putnam said.