The women's cross country team will run its second race of the season on the Williams course tomorrow, this time for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Div. III Cross Country Championships.
While the top seven Jumbo runners are resting up for the Div. III New England Regionals, the eighth- 14th-ranked runners have a chance to step into the spotlight and end the season on a high note. Tufts will be represented by seniors Melissa Henry, Angie Lee and Sam Moland, sophomores Susan Allegretti, Betsy Aronson, Kate Charyk and Veronica Jackson, and junior Anna Shih.
"I think it's a good opportunity for the team to step up," Moland said. "Also, it's great for the second seven, especially to be able to run at the top of the race."
Saturday will be the last race for most of the "second seven," which for the Jumbos is actually a second eight. Although ECACs is a generally seen as a developmental race for younger runners and a chance for the seniors to end their cross country careers in style, for Moland, who earned All-ECAC honors last year with a ninth-place finish, and Allegretti, this Saturday holds a promising opportunity. With the Jumbos' Nationals team still undecided, a high finish at ECACs could punch the pairs' ticket to NCAAs.
"For both [Allegretti and Moland], who were in and out of the top five all year, it's a big race," coach Kristen Morwick said. "We essentially have nine runners for seven spots, so this will decide who gets to race at Nationals."
Sending the strongest team possible to Regionals on the path to Nationals is definitely a goal for the Tufts women, whose outstanding track record this season has earned a corresponding jump in the Div. III New England polls. Sitting right behind Amherst (100), the 10th-ranked team in the nation, the Jumbos' 88 points put them ahead of both Williams (79) and Middlebury (73), both of whom they overtook in last week's second place finish at NESCACs.
With league rivals Amherst, Bates, Colby, Conn. College, Middlebury, and host Williams included among the 40 teams converging on the Ephs' course this Saturday, the field is going to be large for ECACs. Luckily, size won't be too much of an issue, thanks to the relative broadness of the course.
"We were lucky to be able to see [the course] earlier this season," Morwick said. "Williams' [course] doesn't narrow too quickly, so there's a good thousand meters for the race to string out."
The last time the women ran at Williams was Oct. 14 at the Plansky Invitational with the team split between the 4K distance and the 5K. The separate squads earned second and third place, respectively, with senior tri-captain Catherine Beck (4K) and sophomore Evelyn Sharkey (5K) each winning their respective race. With the entire team's focus on the same distance in the upcoming championship, similar results should ensue.
"Shooting for the top five is a reasonable goal after the kind of season we've been having," Morwick said. "Last year, we were second, after losing to Amherst by only two points, even though our team was a bit deeper last year."
Amherst is the defending champion, but a two point separation hardly seems like much of an obstacle, easily spanned by a single runner stepping up to pass another. Seeing how the season's been going for the Tufts women, it's entirely possible, and likely probable, that ECACs will bring some standout performances.
"All of our hard workouts and races have put us in a great position to do well," Moland said. "We just have to go all out."
