Katy O'Brien, cross country
Tufts has been used to having one of its runners racing in front this season, and Saturday was no different, as a Jumbo finished first at the NESCAC Championships. This time, though, instead of junior Catherine Beck, it was classmate Katy O'Brien breaking the tape.
The conditions of swirling downpours and gusting wind, which by the standards of most runners would have been unbearable, were just right for O'Brien as she made a surge late in the 6k race to take first place in 22:49. Beck out-sprinted Wesleyan senior Ellen Davis for second place, finishing in 23:07, almost twenty seconds behind O'Brien.
The 1-2 finish for the Jumbos at Harkness Memorial State Park gave the team second place with 69 points, just five points behind first-place Amherst. It was the highest Jumbo finish in the recent history and puts them in a great position to contend at the Div. III New England Regional Championships in two weeks.
2006 has been a breakout season for O'Brien, as the junior finished third at the Jumbo Invitational on Sep. 29 and 19th two weeks later at the All-New England Championships O'Brien and the Jumbos will spend the next two weeks readying for Regionals.
Stacey Watkins, field hockey
The senior co-captain came up huge in both circles in the Jumbos' biggest weekend of the season, as the Jumbos hosted their first-ever NESCAC Tournament game and advanced to the tournament semifinals with a 2-1 win over Trinity yesterday.
At center back, Watkins anchored a Tufts defense that recorded its fifth shutout of the season with a 2-0 win over Conn. College on Saturday. The senior contributied a stellar defensive save that prevented a sure Camels score and preserved the shutout. In the Jumbos' 2-1 win over the Bantams in yesterday's first-round NESCAC tournament game, Watkins assisted both Tufts goals with a pair of rocket penalty corner shots that deflected off the sticks of junior Ileana Casellas-Katz and freshman Michelle Kelly.
Moving up on the team's corner unit on offense, Watkins has had a hand in nine of the Jumbos' last 15 goals. She has commanded the best Tufts defensive unit in years, headlining the Jumbos' transition play and stopping oncoming forwards in their tracks. Along with senior co-captain Marilyn Duffy-Cabana in goal, Watkins' experience and composure helped to thwart two second-half surges by both the Camels and the Bantams and captained two of the biggest wins of the Jumbos' breakout 2006 season.
