This fall's Men's cross country team is running toward many of the same goals as last year's squad: a NESCAC championship, a New England title, and a top-four finish at Nationals.
The team, however, is not the same.
Program mainstays Peter Bromka, Nate Brigham, and Brian McNamara, all of whom served as captains at one point during their Jumbo athletic careers, have graduated. "Those guys were huge," senior co-captain Matt Fortin said. "They were the centerpiece of the team; they were always talking and leading."
The squad suffered another off-season loss when longtime coach Connie Putnam retired in early August after 21 years leading the Jumbos' Men's track and cross country programs.
Putnam retired weeks before the season, leaving the team without the time to find a new coach from outside the program. The team decided to promote Ethan Barron, Putnam's assistant for the last three seasons, and assistant coach Rod Hemingway, a Tufts alum and former two-time All-American under Putnam.
"When you lose a head coach a month before the season, that's a pretty big speed bump for a team to face," Barron said. "The captains handled it as complete professionals and defused any minor problems that could have occurred. As a result, the team is really focused, committed, and excited about the season right now."
"At first I was a little in shock, given the timing," senior co-captain Matt Lacey said. "But right now I'm not even thinking about Connie, I'm thinking about the season ahead of us."
It's a season that has the potential to be bright. The Jumbos return three top runners from last year in Fortin, Lacey, and junior Josh Kennedy, who was NESCAC Rookie of the Year two years ago.
Kennedy earned All-American status with a 32nd-place finish at Nationals, where the Jumbos just missed their goal of a top-four finish, placing sixth. Fortin and Lacey finished 66th and 68th, and second and third on the team, respectively. Lacey and Kennedy also paced last year's team to victories at NESCAC's and New England's, finishing first and second on the squad and top ten overall at both races.
"We have three guys who could be All-American, which is virtually unheard of," Lacey said. "We definitely have the pieces to be stronger and more dominant up front."
The Jumbos might need to look toward these exceptional athletes, because graduation robbed the team of many talented players.
"We don't quite have the depth from last year," Lacey said. "We're definitely strong through seven, but there's more of a drop-off. We don't have ten to 12 guys who you could plug into basically any Varsity in New England [like last year]."
And depth is important. Williams placed three runners last year in the top six at the NESCAC. Five Jumbos finished in the top 17 positions, which was enough for Tufts to defeat Williams and take their second consecutive NESCAC title.
Tufts will need strong performances out of seniors Neil Orfield and Kyle Doran, both of whom battled injuries last year but previously competed in Nationals.
"It's not like they're inexperienced sophomores being asked to step up and run over their head," Barron said. "We're returning six athletes with national championship experience, and that's significant."
Sophomore Chris Kantos, another runner with Nationals experience, could help fill the void left by the graduates. Junior Justin Chung, who has looked promising in limited appearances, and sophomore Brendan McNeish, might emerge as key athletes.
Barron is making small tweaks to Putnam's training system, trying to keep the team healthy and able to gear up for a late-season run in November.
"In terms of volume training, we're being more cautious with guys who are injury-prone," Lacey admitted.
"Last year we were able to absorb injuries to Kyle, to Neil, to Bromka. This year we have to avoid the cuts and bruises and bangs that we ran through last season because they won't be so easy to run through this season," Barron said. "But this team is old enough, mature enough, and experienced enough that we can work on race strategy and running tightly in the first half of the season and then take off in the second half."
