Rough weather conditions and stiff running competition didn't faze the Jumbos this past Saturday as the men's cross country team placed 6th at the All New England Championships, tying its record finish for All-New England's which it set at last season's race.
Typically viewed as a race that somewhat mimics nationals due to the quality and quantity of runners, the Jumbos fared well against teams from Divisions I, II, and III. Tufts (209) proved its Div. III dominance, as it was the highest placing Div. III team, handily beating Williams (8th, 274).
"It's great that we placed as high as we did," senior co-captain Matt Lacey said. "But I really think we could have even done a lot better."
Tufts had three runners place within the top 50 out of the total 321 runners. Lacey (25:05) continued with his impressive and dominant performances this season by finishing 5th overall and first in Div. III. The finish was the best for a Tufts runner in the race since Dan Moynihan won the race back in 1973.
"He is really incredible. He just keeps surprising us with all these amazing times," co-captain Matt Fortin said. "I'm definitely happy about that but the truth is he is probably going to do even better in the final races of the season."
Junior Josh Kennedy (25:27) finished 15th and Fortin (26:13) placed just inside the top 50 by finishing 48th.
"Overall I believe it was a step forward," Fortin said of his race. "I could have done better but I am definitely happy with the progress I'm making."
Junior Justin Chung (26:34) finished 70th and senior Neil Orfield (26:36) came in right behind him in 71st place to close out the Jumbo top five. Sophomores Dave Sorensen (27:06) and Brendan McNeish (27:20) rounded out the Tufts runners, finishing 118th and 147th respectively.
Brown University dominated the race, finishing first with 40 points, while Harvard (146) placed second and Boston College (157) finished third. Dartmouth (189) placed fourth while UMass-Lowell (206) rounded out the top five.
The rough weather turned the course into a wet, muddy bog.
"We wore our longer spikes and it didn't affect us too badly," Lacey said. "But definitely when it rains like that it makes people slip around a lot more."
Coach Ethan Barron believed the weather slowed down the time.
"Any time you get weather like that it's going to have an effect on the race," Barron said. "We saw times slow down by about 30 seconds at the front at the pack and from the middle to the back of the pack, times slowed down by about 45 seconds to a minute."
But despite the weather, both Lacey and Barron were fairly satisfied with the performance of the team, especially in the face of stiffer competition.
"We actually could have done a lot better, we wanted to finish in the top five and only missed out on 4th by 20 points," Lacey said. "Its fun to run against Div. I and II schools because you have nothing to lose. It makes the race bigger and allows you to just go out and run and have more fun."
"It is really pleasing to be able to take down some Div. I and Div. II schools and I was happy that we were the best Div. III school out there," Barron said. "For me it was also pleasing to see that we did this without Chris Kantos and Kyle Doran, two runners that would have definitely made a huge impact."
Now, the Jumbos will look forward to this week's Jim Drews Invitational in Wisconsin, a race the Jumbos have never raced in before.
"It's pretty important because it gives us the chance to look at some of the teams we are going to see in nationals," Fortin said. "We are going to be able to see how we match up against some of our bigger rivals."
"It's a great opportunity for us," Barron said. "I am definitely looking forward to it because we get to see the teams that are ranked ahead of us. During the season we usually have the All-New England's and that is our only chance to see our competition and make race strategies for nationals. But with this opportunity, we can see how our style matches up against theirs and make any adjustments before nationals if we need to."
