For the second time in three races, senior tri-captain Katy O'Brien tucked a first-place finish under her belt as she smoked the competition at the women's Jumbo Invitational.
O'Brien paced the field, successfully navigating the hilly Tufts Farm Course in Grafton, Mass. to win the race by more than 26 seconds with a mark of 22:37.14.
"Just based on the fact that it was my first 6k [6,000-meter race] of the year and that I knew it was going to be tough in the heat, I went out pretty conservatively and kept moving up as the race went on," O'Brien said. "That seemed to work out pretty well, just because I wasn't too hot and exhausted by mid-race."
This time, however, the victory was not enough to keep Tufts at the top, as nationally-ranked No. 8 Bowdoin and unranked Bates stunned the fifth-ranked Jumbos, who finished in an unexpected third place in the four-team field.
"We were actually really shocked with the results," freshman Stephanie McNamara said. "From what I was told by the upperclassmen, Bates and Bowdoin have not been that strong in previous years. Bates has a really big team and some really good recruits that came in this year, and Bowdoin stepped it up a lot. It was kind of a shock, but we took the hit and it just means that we have to work harder now."
O'Brien was followed by a pair of first-years that led each of their respective teams to an upset. Bowdoin's Yasmine White led the charge for the Polar Bears with a time of 23:03.66, while Bobcat freshman Jennifer Milton finished third with a 23:18.88 clip.
Bowdoin senior tri-captain Laura Onderko and junior Courtney Martin rounded out the top five, solidifying the team's victory with 27 points. Bates trailed with 46, Tufts tallied 63, and Wellesley finished last with 100.
"They are strong schools," O'Brien said. "It's kind of hard to gauge how they will do, with new freshmen and everything. Generally, we do beat them, and I think if we were on top of our game today, we would have. I think we do have some improving to do in terms of our racing."
Tufts' own freshmen did not disappoint in the first 6k race of their young collegiate careers, despite the heat and difficulty of the course.
"I talked to a lot of upperclassmen, and what they advised all of the freshmen and anyone who hadn't run a 6k on this course to do was just take it slow in the beginning and pace yourself," McNamara said. "The terrain was really tough and the ground was really uneven and there were a couple big hills. We just all went into it hoping to get the best out of it and finish and get a strong effort."
"We really focused on trying not to go out too hard, trying to conserve our energy, and trying to kick later in the race and hoping for the best," freshman Christy Loftus said. "I was a little nervous and ended up going out a little bit faster than I should have. I definitely regretted it as the race wore on."
The Jumbos were happy to have McNamara back in the lineup on Saturday after she experienced soreness in her left fibula, an injury perhaps related to the stress fracture she sustained before coming to Tufts. McNamara took last weekend off from racing in order to rest, but came back strong in Grafton to nail down eighth place and lead the Jumbo newcomers.
Junior Amy Hopkins and sophomore Lisa Picascia also both turned out impressive performances in their first 6k race with the Jumbo squad, finishing in 24:11.83 and 24:43.05, respectively.
The Jumbos will now get a timely break from competition before their next race, the All-New England Championships, which will fall on Oct. 6 at Franklin Park in Boston. As the event features runners from all three divisions and marks the beginning of the postseason for Tufts, the Jumbos look to be at their best heading into the race.
"It's definitely a really competitive race," O'Brien said. "There are a lot of big schools there. The bigger and more competitive meets are always a learning experience, especially for the new kids."
"I think the next two weeks are going to be good for us," McNamara added. "We can train pretty hard this upcoming week and not worry about having to taper at the end for a race, and then we can continue training into next week to get ready for the weekend after...it should be a good next couple weeks of training."
