Senior tri-captain Chris Kantos made a triumphant return to cross country Saturday, taking fourth place at the Keene State Invitational after more than a year away from competitive racing.
"Personally, I was thrilled to see Kantos back racing and thought he looked great," sophomore Nick Welch said. "I'm sure it took him a few kilometers to shake out the cobwebs from a year away from racing, but despite his time off I thought he looked very sharp and strong."
Kantos, who clocked in at 26:49, studied abroad in London during the 2006-2007 academic year and missed the first three races of the 2007 season with a back injury he sustained in mid-August towards the end of the team's summer training.
"It definitely was a bit of a shock to race again," Kantos wrote in an e-mail to the Daily. "After being in London last year, and being injured this season, it was tough to just hop right back in, but I think that the coming weeks will be a lot better."
Kantos did not try to overexert himself in his return, hoping to use the race to increase his level of fitness but avoid aggravating the injury.
"It was a very low-key meet," he said. "The entire goal for me was just to feel good after I finished and not have any pain with my injury, and in that sense the race was very successful because I actually finished pain-free. That was sort of what we were going for."
Kantos was the only member of the varsity team who participated in the race, as coach Ethan Barron took the opportunity to rest his top runners for next weekend's All-New England Championships. The Jumbos had five runners in the top 40 of the race, which featured 100 participants from 10 different schools. Freshman Chris Brunnquell finished in 26th place with a time of 28:35. Freshman Andrew Bellet and senior Matt Alander took the 31st and 35th spots, respectively, while senior tri-captain Alex Bloom finished in 37th. As a team, the Jumbos finished with 96 points, good for third place.
"These were today's varsity runners," Barron said. "In cross country your varsity is whoever finishes in your top seven for that day. We did rest our top seven from the previous week, as they will most likely have more opportunities to run fast later in the season. We want to get everyone the best chance to adjust to the [8,000 meters] and run well."
Host Keene State, the only squad running its top runners, won the race, taking seven of the top 10 individual spots. UMass Lowell junior Mark Garcia led the River Hawks to second after posting the best individual time. NESCAC rival Williams, which rested its top runners and only ran six competitors, came in eighth.
While the Jumbos are now preparing for the impending championship season, the team emphasized the importance of facing teams such as Keene State and Williams, as they will be racing against these powerhouses later on in the season.
"It is good to compete against [Keene State] since we will face them again at Regionals when we are all fighting for the few spots for Nationals," Kantos said.
"In terms of Williams, we will definitely be seeing them again, and every time helps just to get a feel for how strong their guys are running."
The Jumbos will continue to rest this week as they prepare for their first important race of the season, the All-New England Championships, to be held at Boston's Franklin Park. The team, which normally runs workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays, will change its regimen and train today and Wednesday, allowing itself two full days of rest before the race.
The All-New England Championships will likely feature every NESCAC team as well as some of the top caliber teams from the New England area, not to mention competition from Div. I and Div. II squads. It will mark the first time this season that the Jumbos will see the best teams in the region, giving them an opportunity to assess where they stand. At this point, Tufts feels it is in good position.
"I was pleased with our performance this weekend," Barron said. "We still have a long way to go, but everyone is making steps in the right direction."
