The members of the men's cross country team battled dust, dirt and unusually warm weather as they took on stiff competition at Open New England Championships at Franklin Park in Boston.
The Jumbos finished an impressive 13th out of 43 teams in a competitive field, one that included several Div. I and II schools as well as NESCAC rivals including Williams and Amherst, both of whom finished within the top five overall.
"I was pleased with the race effort this weekend," coach Ethan Barron wrote in an e-mail to the Daily. "No one let the heat get under their skin mentally, and everyone was prepared for a great race. The heat doesn't make it impossible to have a good race, but it can make it more difficult. Everyone was prepared to face that difficulty head on and put a great effort out there this weekend.
"The dryness of the fall led to a very hard surface, which makes it fast," Barron continued. "That dryness also led to a lot of dust being kicked up ... Unless you're at the front of the pack, you have to deal with that like everyone else."
The Jumbos boasted several impressive individual performances, most notably that of senior tri-captain Dave Sorensen, who finished first for Tufts and 34th overall in 25:57.
"Dave felt very strong throughout the entire race," Barron said. "He is working out well and racing strong. He was one of the top Div. III runners this weekend, and I'm sure that he will be capable of an even stronger race in a month."
Sorensen was followed by sophomore Jesse Faller, who finished 53rd overall with a time of 26:15. And after taking fourth at the Keene State Invitational last weekend in his first race in over a year, senior tri-captain Chris Kantos also turned in a strong performance, running the course in 26:43 for 91st.
"I think [Kantos] ran a really good race," Faller said. "It's only his second race back, and this was definitely a tough race to come back to. It's so fast, and it's a lot of [Div. I] guys and top-notch competition. It's just impressive that he could put in that time considering how long he's been out with the injury."
Freshman Greg Pallotta and sophomore Nick Welch also scored for the Jumbos, finishing 105th and 132nd, respectively.
"We gave it everything we had on Saturday and for that reason alone, it was a success," Welch said. "That said, we got a chance to see where we are and where we want to be. If nothing else, the meet is motivation to continue working hard, as we have been for months."
With NESCAC Championships now only three weeks away, the Jumbos valued the opportunity to challenge themselves by squaring off against some of the region's elite runners.
"In a race like [Open New England Championships], you're really just trying to achieve your own personal goals: place, time, effort," Barron said. "It was nice to have more high-quality runners in the meet to keep the pace honest. It was a very full meet up in the front between all of the top Div. I, II, and III teams, but it was great for all of our guys to have people to run with."
"It's always fun to mix it up with the Div. I and Div. II boys," Welch added. "Our main focus, though, are the [Div. III] teams that we'll be facing in five weeks at Regionals."
The Jumbos will now look ahead to next week's Plansky Invitational, to be held at Williams Saturday. The race will mark the first in a series in Williamstown for the Jumbos, as they will head west for both the NESCAC Championships (NESCACs) on Oct. 27 and the ECAC Championships on Nov. 3.
"In cross country, there is definitely a huge home course advantage," Faller said. "We're going to Williams to check out the course because we have NESCACs there, and obviously that's our big race. Seeing the course before you run is definitely a huge advantage - to know where to move, where the hills are. I think it will help to get a little more comfortable with the course before we actually race on it."
Carly Helfand contributed reporting to this article.
