Women's cross country coach Kristen Morwick worried last week about replacing departed 2004 graduates Lauren Caputo and Lauren Dunn; however, Morwick's young squad looked up to the task this weekend as the Jumbos finished first out of 12 teams at Saturday's Connecticut College Invite. Tufts (51) barely edged out The College of New Jersey (53) for the win.
Those are pretty big Tufts shoes to fill." she said, "But our returning runners are coming back a year better, and we have a ton of new freshmen. It's a tough situation to rely on new people like that, so it's tough to say how good we'll be. But if they do what we think they will, we'll be better than we were last year."
So far, the Jumbos have been better; last year's team finished fourth at the Conn. College Invite, but this year Tufts used strong front running to win the meet. Junior Becca Ades finished in 19:08, coming in fourth overall. Freshmen Katy O'Brien (19:18) and Catherine Beck (19:19) were right behind her, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.
"We looked really strong up front," Ades said. "The freshmen stepped up right away."
Sophomore Racquel Morgan finished 15th, running a 19:33, and classmate Sarah Crispin came in ten seconds behind her in 19th place to round out the Jumbos' top five.
"I thought it was a good meet," Morwick said. "Our seventh runner was faster this year than our fourth runner was at this meet last year. We had five new people in our top eight, which is crazy. They're only going to get better, and I think the fact that they're doing so well already bodes well for the future."
That future will depend on how well Ades, who just missed qualifiying for nationals last year, can step into the role of lead runner and how maturely a young squad can run in tough late-season meets.
"[Becca] has had the luxury of following Caputo for two years, but she's run against this type of competition for six seasons now, so she should be ready to go," Ades said. "She's in fantastic shape and if she stays healthy she'll have a great year."
"It's definitely different going out there knowing that no one's in front of me," Ades continued. "But I'm ready for that, and I know my team's right behind me."
Indeed, Ades is far from being the only weapon in the Jumbos' arsenal. Sophomore Sarah Crispin was a consistent top five performer on the team, as was senior tri-captain Emily Pfiel, who is currently injured. Sophomore Samantha Moland and senior tri-captains Katie Sheedy and Katie Mason could also impact the top five.
However, the captains are part of a group of seniors and juniors that can be counted on one hand. Therefore they not only need to run well, but they also need to act as role models for the younger members of the squad.
"We have a young, malleable group, and these three can do a nice job of bringing them along and telling the younger girls the way it is," Morwick said.
The team has had a fluid first week of practice, and based on the alumni race and the Conn. College Invite, it is already ahead of where it was at this point last year. Morwick pointed out that Crispin finished 13th on the team in her first race last year before improving to finish third for the Jumbos in last season's New England Championship race. With this in mind, the fact that so many freshmen are already racing so well has her excited.
"Given that we're inexperienced you wouldn't expect them to start like this, so it's a nice surprise that they did," Morwick said. "We have potential for doing really well. It just depends on how the freshmen respond to college competition and what other teams are doing in the region."
"Our goal is to finish in the top five in New England, and I think it's realistic. A lot would have to go right for us, but you could say that about the Patriots and the Red Sox too."
