History goes a long way in doling out prestige. 2006 was the 110th running of the Boston Marathon, and Tufts continues to assert its claim to the first intercollegiate American football game.
But today, five Tufts athletes will head to Philadelphia, Penn. for the 112th Penn Relay Carnival, the oldest organized relay meet and easily the most renowned track meet in the country.
The meet, held at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania, attracts Olympians and professional athletes, as well as the best from all three collegiate divisions, high schools, and even junior high and elementary schools.
Athletes get the privilege of competing in the oldest two-tiered stadium in the country, Franklin Field (built in 1922), blocking the wind and easing the effects of weather on the race.
"Not only is it a great venue to run fast, but that in addition to the high level of competition is just a great recipe for success," men's coach Ethan Barron said.
The men's and women's track teams will send five distance runners to the event. Senior tri-captain Matt Lacey will run the 10,000 meters while junior Josh Kennedy and sophomore Chris Kantos will run the 5,000 meters. For the women, senior tri-captain Becca Ades and sophomore Catherine Beck will both run the 5,000 meters. All five runners will be looking to hit NCAA qualifying times in their events.
Last year, Lacey and Nate Brigham (LA '05) competed in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, respectively, at the Penn Relays, with both runners setting new school records and automatically qualifying for Nationals.
"It's exciting," Lacey said. "The atmosphere, the big stadium, and the competitive races - it's the best chance you get to run really fast times."
Lacey, who has yet to run a 10k this season, will need to run 31:10.00 to qualify provisionally. Kennedy and Kantos will need to hit 14:48.00 in the 5,000. Kennedy hit that time in the indoor season, running a 14:47.57 and Kantos was close with a 14:48.40 at the Boston Terrier Classic on Jan. 27. All three athletes qualified provisionally for Nationals in the 5,000 during the indoor season and all three were part of the cross country team that placed fifth at Nationals in November, with Kennedy earning his second All-American.
"They've all been big-meet performers," Barron said. "They've all ran in big races before and they've all qualified as individuals for Nationals in multiple events.
They're all capable of going to a pretty elite meet, such as the Penn Relays, and performing and exceeding their potential."
Beck and Ades both hope to run competitive times in the 5,000 meters for Nationals. The provisional qualifying mark for the 5,000 is 17:48, but both will need to go faster if they want to make the final Nationals list.
"Looking at the list, I'd like to get myself in a place that would be comfortable, so hopefully I can throw down something like in indoors," Beck said, referring to her school-record 17:09 this past January.
"If I'm going to [qualify in the 5,000], it's going to be at this meet," Ades said. "I've been doing some good training and I think I'm right where I need to be."
Ades has already provisionally qualified for Nationals in the 3,000 steeplechase, and Beck has hit provisional qualifying times in both the 800 and the 1,500.
The level of competition in the race allows runners to latch onto the pack and let the quickened pace take them to fast times. Against the normal competition that Div. III distance runners face, fast runners must stay at the front of the race and dictate the pace if they hope to hit National qualifying times.
"This is going to be the first time they're going to race with an opportunity to run this fast and they're going to get sucked along by it," Lacey said of Kantos and Kennedy. "You can just blink and all of a sudden you're halfway through the race going at [personal record] pace and they're going to benefit from that."
Additionally, running against the best competition in the country rather than fellow NESCAC runners allows the distance runners to blend in and run their race.
"I like the idea that you can go out there and run for time and not worry about who you're running against," Beck said. "I feel like it helps you focus on you and not worry about who's around you."
Unlike sprinters, distance runners need to make an effort to find races that will result in fast times.
"As a sprinter, I didn't have to chase races," Barron said of his track days for Middlebury. "A distance runner needs a good pack to run a good time."
The five competitors will also have to turn around and head up to Bowdoin as soon as they finish racing to compete at Saturday's NESCAC Championships. They will have to recover fast to help their teams at the season's most important team competition.
"They're also three of the strongest athletes Tufts has ever seen in terms of being able to recover well, and running a good time on Saturday is definitely within their reach," Barron said of Lacey, Kennedy and Kantos.
"It's going to be a crazy couple of days for track." Beck said.
Ades and Beck will race their 5,000 at 8:45 tonight while Kennedy and Kantos will run at 9:25. Lacey's 10,000 meter heat will run at 10:40.
Barron feels his athletes have demonstrated their right to be running at such a prestigious meet.
"I'm a very big proponent of bringing athletes that deserve the right to be there and compete at this stage and the three athletes we're bringing down there have earned that right," Barron said.
