The Jumbos were just one of 45 teams from all around the region that flocked to Franklin Park in Boston last Saturday to mark the first race of the 2006 championship season.
With competition spanning all three Divisions and featuring the largest scoring body of runners they had encountered this season, the Tufts team churned out sturdy finishes-including several personal bests-that combined for a solid 19th place at the Open New England Cross Country Championship.
"This was by far the biggest field we had run against yet, and it was mayhem; mayhem at the start and mayhem throughout," said freshman Nick Welch, who took the third spot in the Jumbo top five and 115th overall with a time of 26:08. "Everyone went out really quickly."
Senior Justin Chung led the team from way out front, turning in a standout performance of 25:23, good for 29th place overall and the subsequent distinction of finishing in the top 30 for the entire New England area. Chung also shattered his personal record of this season by 20 seconds, coming closer to the challenge of the 25-minute mark.
Crossing the tape soon after Chung was senior co-captain Josh Kennedy, who returned from an injury to race for the first time this season, earning a time of 25:56 and earning 89th place.
"It's really great to finally be back, to be racing again, and helping the team out," said Kennedy, an All-American. "Overall, I think we ran okay. A couple of us could have run better, but we're where we want to be for this point in the season."
Welch, who ran the self-professed "fastest first mile of my cross country career," enjoyed a new personal best along with his position in the scoring five. Junior Dave Sorensen (26:15, 130th) and freshman Jesse Faller (26:22, 136th), separated by only seven seconds, strode across the line to complete the placing Jumbo lineup.
"I think the race went all right, but we had a 'B' day overall," coach Ethan Barron said. "Not that we made any big mistakes, but we all know that we can be a stronger team than the results would tell you."
Complicating matters for the Tufts squad from the beginning was an adverse start position on the outside. On a straight starting line with a sizeable, competitive field, running from the wing positions adds an element of frustration when the race funnels into the course and bottlenecks.
"We were in Box 1, so I think the guys found themselves a little farther back on the start than they wanted to be," Barron said. "The impact is minimal, but it definitely did affect how we ran this race."
As is the case with most championship races, the number of runners a coach can put into the varsity race is limited to seven to keep the field at a manageable size. However, the top scorers racing at the sub-varsity level turned in times to rival some of the varsity performances.
Senior Chad Uy (26:32, 30th) set a personal best on his second race back, and freshman Ryan Lena (27:09, 78th) cut a minute off his previous time, the two taking first and second on the team respectively. Senior Dan Sullivan (27:16, 87th), junior Anyenda Inyagwa (27:20, 94th), and sophomore David Tilton (27:25, 101st) all slashed seconds off their best times as they finished third through fifth, respectively.
All five fell within the gap between Faller and seventh varsity spot freshman Peter Browne (230th, 27:34), displaying the depth that cross country teams strive for.
Among NESCAC competitors, Tufts (487 points) settled for the middle of the pack, behind Bowdoin (275), Wesleyan (416), Williams (420), and Amherst (429) while holding a sizeable lead over Middlebury (622), Colby (645), and Conn. College (837).
These teams won't have to wait long for a conference rematch, as the NESCAC Championships will take place on Oct. 28 at Conn. College. The Jumbos, sitting on seventh in the Oct. 2 New England Div. III men's cross country poll, are poised for a showdown and plan to be as prepared as possible, taking advantage of the extended break between races.
"We'll spend the better part of three weeks leading up to NESCAC's entering a new phase of training and starting to put all of the parts together," Barron said. "You should be watching all of our guys in the upcoming races. We'll be on a totally different plateau, both physically and psychologically."
