For the last few seasons, the men's cross country team has bragged about its depth. Tomorrow, Tufts will get a chance to show it when the squad's second seven run in the ECAC Championship at the Jumbos' own Grafton home course.
Traditionally, teams rest their top varsity runners at ECACs in preparation for the following weekend's NCAA New England Championship Race, and the Jumbos will be no exception this year. Senior co-captains Nate Brigham and Brian McNamara, fifth-year senior Peter Bromka, juniors Matt Lacey, Matt Fortin, and Kyle Doran, and sophomore Josh Kennedy will not run this weekend.
Instead, senior Mike Don, juniors Neil Orfield and Mike Cummings, sophomores Justin Chung, Peter Goransson, and Peter Orth, and either sophomore Chad Uy or freshman Chris Kantos will line up in the box for the Jumbos.
Whether or not Kantos runs hinges on the status of Doran, who has been struggling with lower leg pain. If Doran turns out to have a serious injury, Kantos would then be bumped up into the team's top seven and would not run tomorrow.
Kantos said on Wednesday he still wasn't sure if he would run or not, but if he does, he and Chung will likely provide the speed at the front for Tufts.
"Kantos and I have been both on the varsity team for several races so this race is a chance for us to run as top guys," Chung said.
Because he won't have the top seven racing in front of him as he would at a varsity race, Chung admitted that "it does change some things psychologically. I'll be running towards the front of the entire race. I have to set the pace this time. Of course there are guys from other teams who are pretty fast."
At last year's ECACs, the Jumbos dominated, placing all seven runners in the top 14 out of over 200 competitors and easily capturing first out of 33 teams. Chung finished ninth overall and Orth finished tenth.
Additionally, the Jumbos have plenty of leadership and experience from upperclassmen Don, Orfield, and Cummings. All three have been top-five finishers on the team throughout their careers, with Orfield racing in the national championship race last year.
And while some of the younger Jumbos will be excited to race for perhaps the first time all year, for Don it will be his final race. The senior ran in the national championship race his freshman year, but has battled various aliments and injuries since. This year, a bout of mononucleosis sabotaged the first half of his
season.
"I haven't felt any symptoms in a really long time but obviously my training isn't where it should be, so I still feel really behind," Don said. "I ran decently at NESCACs where I was the 11th guy, so I'm starting to feel a little better. Obviously I'd like to have a good last race. I'd like to score the team, finish in the top five, and hopefully I'll go out with a win."
He's not the only Jumbo who thinks it's a possibility; Chung broke it down matter-of-factly.
"A lot of other teams are doing the same thing, running their second seven, but they're not as deep as us," the sophomore said. "We know the course and that favors us. We're planning on running well and winning."
