Katy O'Brien, Cross Country
Senior tri-captain Katy O'Brien is not letting up on her domination of the NESCAC women's cross country league. This weekend at the 6k Jumbo Invitational, she once again set the pace for the women runners from Tufts, Bates, Bowdoin and Wellesley.
O'Brien clocked in at 22:37.14, a full 27 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Bowdoin first year Yasmine White, who came in at 23:06.66. In addition to taking this race, O'Brien has come in first and second in the Dartmouth Shriners Invitational and the Trinity College Invitational respectively.
In addition to receiving the Daily Athlete of the Week award for her performance in the Jumbo Invitational, O'Brien nabbed the NESCAC Cross Country Performer of the Week honor last week for her run at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational.
O'Brien will have this coming weekend off before trying to lead the team in the All-New England Championship at Franklin Park, Boston on Oct. 6. Last year, O'Brien came in at No. 19 of the 314 runners from 46 teams. Tufts managed to finish at No. 6 last year and hopes to improve on it with the help of O'Brien.
Tom Tassinari, Football
As a freshman last season, defensive back Tom Tassinari played in just three games all season, making a total of three tackles. Suffice it to say, it's only taken one game for the sophomore to far surpass last season's output.
Tassinari, making his first career start at strong safety after the graduation of former All-NESCAC safety Bryan McDavitt, was impressive in his first game, carrying the Tufts defense in the Jumbos' runaway win over Hamilton.
Tassinari recorded a game-high eight tackles in the game, seven of them solo, and came up huge with two interceptions, turning Opening Day into a nightmare for Hamilton junior quarterback Ben Saccomano.
Hamilton appeared to be in control in the first half, as Saccomano and freshman running back Jon Higginbotham moved the ball to the Tufts 27 on their first drive. But Tassinari kept the game scoreless for the Jumbos, coming up with a huge interception at the 12 yard line.
Tassinari's second interception came later in the first half. After Saccomano hit freshman wideout Scott Kleinklaus with a seven-yard pass to open the Continentals' sixth drive of the game, Tassinari picked off his next attempt, giving the Jumbos the ball with 7:04 left in the first half.
