In cross country, the race is against the clock or, occasionally, other runners. This weekend, the Tufts men took on the elements.
Saturday brought the NESCAC Championships, hosted by Conn. College at Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford, Conn. Along with the other 10 schools in the conference, the Jumbos tested their mettle in a showdown against nature, braving the 8k distance and the torrential rain that kept most of the Tufts population indoors on Saturday morning.
"I've never been a part of a race where the weather was so chaotic; it was pretty much unprecedented," coach Ethan Barron said. "I think how everyone was just toeing the line was the most hardcore aspect of the day. Cross country is one of the few sports that would actually compete in weather like that."
The rain contributed to the team's worst finish in the past 10 years, as the team, which lost five of its seven varsity runners from last season, fell from reigning champion to eighth place. The Jumbos had won the NESCAC Championship meet in each of the last three seasons but failed to deliver a repeat performance in 2006, scoring 171 points and sneaking by ninth-place Bates by a single point.
"Basically, it came down to the start," Barron said of his team's placement. "How the race was set at one mile was how it went, as the weather made it impossible to move up. We just found ourselves a little farther back than we would have wanted."
The weather was certainly a key factor in the team's performance. Excess precipitation the night before brought muddy ground and unsure footing for the racers, made increasingly worse as the downpour continued throughout the race. Augmenting the force of the rain was the wind speed, recorded at 45 mph for the 11 a.m. race time.
"None of us may ever experience that ever again," freshman Nick Welch said. "I've never been out in a storm like that, much less run in it, much less raced in it."
Though conditions led to some physical trouble at the onset of the race, the prevailing attitude of the day was more along the lines of resilience than submission.
"[Junior] Anyenda Inyagwa went down twice at the start," Barron said. "In a race this big, he basically had to curl up into a ball to protect his head from being trampled by the stampede. Still, he recovered and kept running."
Also making a recovery was freshman Peter Browne, who ran barefoot for four and a half miles after taking a spike to his heel and consequently losing one of his shoes. Despite the driving rain and the missing footwear, he maintains it was the "most fun I've ever had in a race."
Welch also ran through the weather, closing the last mile "not only better than most of the athletes there, but probably better than most athletes could have in those conditions," according to Barron.
"It really bodes well for Nationals, now that he knows what he is capable of," Barron said.
Welch claimed the top spot on the Tufts squad for the first time in his collegiate career, taking 20th place overall with a time of 26:54. Senior co-captain Josh Kennedy (26:56) crossed the line just two seconds behind Welch for 22nd, followed by classmate Justin Chung, who came in at 27:19 to finish 41st. Junior Dave Sorensen (46th, 27:33) and senior Chad Uy (53th, 27:39) rounded out the Tufts top five, just six seconds apart.
As for the team finishes, Williams and Bowdoin took their predicted leads and ran away with them, taking first and second in the conference with 30 and 81 points respectively. However, most of the action happened between the next seven finishers, clustering off into a close series that was separated by the performances of just one or two runners.
"The weather did have a leveling effect," Barron said. "It's almost unheard of to have 28 points separating third and ninth place."
Amherst and Trinity paired off for third and fourth with four points in between their respective scores of 144 and 148. Wesleyan (156), Middlebury (158), and Conn. College (162) all finished within six points of each other, placing fifth through seventh, respectively. With a score of 171, Tufts edged out Bates (172) by a single point for eighth place, leaving both Colby (192) and Hamilton (314) a gap away.
The season is still far from over, and both team and coach are looking ahead.
"I'm optimistic," Welch said of the races to come. "We didn't bring the race [this weekend] that we needed to show that we were worthy of Nationals, but we have two weeks to figure out the problems. We know how badly we want to be there."
