The second seven took the field for the women's cross country team on Saturday at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Div. III Cross Country Championships. Senior Katie Mason (20th, 24:03) led the Jumbos to a fourth place finish with sophomore Jenny Torpey (22th, 24:07) right behind on the Tufts Farm Course in Grafton, Massachusetts.
"The team worked really well together," Torpey said. "Everyone just had amazing races. I think the smallest [personal record] was thirty seconds. Everyone just busted out."
At the Jumbo Invitational in September, Torpey ran the 5,000-meter course in 25:01, while Mason finished in 24:32, as both improved their personal records at Grafton by significant times. Torpey improved her time from September by 54 seconds.
"It was a good race for me. We were ready for it," Torpey said. "We were really psyched because we knew we could do really well. We had a goal and we knew we could accomplish it. We did it more for the team than for ourselves."
Junior Arielle Aaronsen (29th, 24:19) and sophomores Samantha Moland (35th, 24:37) and Angie Lee (36th, 24:42) formed a strong middle pack for the Jumbos. The duo of freshman Ana Hoyos (54th, 25:02) and senior Emily Pfiel (55th, 25:05) rounded out the Tufts team.
"Everyone on the team ran [personal records] for Grafton except Pfiel," coach Kristen Morwick said. "It was a great team effort. They ran great, everybody. All of them. To finish fourth was fantastic. We're really pleased with the outcome."
Torpey and Mason maintained position throughout the race. Hoyos ran with the duo, but dropped back as the race progressed.
"The three that really came out were Arielle, Sam and Angie," Morwick said. "They started a lot further back and moved way up over the course of the race. I couldn't really ask for more. They were fantastic."
With a split of 1:02, the Jumbos, with 130 points, were able to hold off the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (132) and Colby College (138) for the fourth place finish, the highest finish for the Jumbos at the ECACs in Tufts history.
Coast Guard raced its top seven runners, led by freshman Joellen Arons' first place individual finish. Yet the Jumbos still held them off in the team standings and fended off the challenge Colby
presented.
"We thought we'd be duking it out with Colby for a fourth or fifth spot if you take Coast Guard's top seven out," Morwick added.
NESCAC rivals Williams (24 points), Middlebury (48) and Amherst (95) ran away with the meet for first, second and third, respectively. Williams put five runners in the top 10, with four runners finishing in the 5-8 spots in an incredible display of depth. Freshman Caitlin Higgins led the Ephs with a second place individual finish.
"[Higgins] was in their top seven all season but had a couple bad races," Morwick said. "[Higgins and freshman Mallory Harlin, who finished fifth] were six and seven at McGill when we raced them. Middlebury and Williams are the top two teams in the nation. They're pretty deep teams."
Tri-captains Mason and Pfiel had strong finishes to their cross country careers.
"It was really nice for the two seniors, Mason and Pfiel, to finish cross country on such a high note," Morwick said. "Especially considering where Pfiel came from. She literally didn't run a step all summer until the middle of September.
