The men's cross country team came into Saturday's NESCAC Championships with its top five intact for just the second time this season and with recent experience on the Williams course that hosted the event.
But despite its readiness, the team could only muster a fifth-place showing at the race, finishing with a score of 128 points.
The middle-of-the-pack finish was expected for the Jumbos, who were racing against three teams ranked in the top 35 Div. III teams. Defending NESCAC-champion and nationally-ranked No. 15 Williams won the race with 47 points.
The Ephs displayed exceptional pack running, as each member of their top five finished within 20 seconds of each other, with none finishing higher than 17th. Williams also displayed its depth, with 11 finishers in the top 41.
Behind the host Ephs were the No. 24 Amherst Lord Jeffs, who finished with 86 points, and the unranked Bowdoin Polar Bears, who came in with 98. No. 20 Trinity rounded out the top four with 109 points.
The overall individual leader on the day was Peter Kosgei, a sophomore from Hamilton who finished with a time of 25:52. Leading the Jumbos was senior tri-captain Dave Sorensen, whose clip of 26:41 was good for ninth place.
"It went really well," Sorensen said. "I just tried to follow the plan that I had. I went out with the front pack and hung on as the race progressed. After the final large hill, I tried to pass as many people as possible that last 1,200 meters. I think a lot of our other top five did that, too. As a team we really excelled in the final 1,200."
Sophomore Jesse Faller finished second for the Jumbos, recording a 12th-place finish in a time of 26:43, just two seconds behind Sorensen. Faller moved up almost 20 places in the final mile.
Senior tri-captain Chris Kantos was next for Tufts, coming in 30th with a time of 27:17. Sophomore Nick Welch came in 35th, checking in at 27:33, and freshman Greg Pallotta finished 46th with a mark of 27:47.
Other notable performances for the team came from junior Dave Tilton, finishing 78th at 28:32, and freshman Jerzy Eisenberg-Guyot, coming in 81st in 28:33.
Overall, Saturday's times were slower than normal because of the less than ideal racing conditions. The race started under cloudy and rainy circumstances with moderate-to-heavy winds. The terrain was slippery and muddy, which tacked on extra time for the runners on the treacherous course.
"When you have a little bit of inclement conditions like that, it usually makes it so that what might have been a spread-out field tightens up a bit," Welch said. "In those situations, the way to take advantage is to try to be a little ahead. Why not be 20 places higher? We could've afforded to put ourselves in a little bit better of a position in the first half. But all you can do on any day is just go run."
The Jumbos now look toward the ECAC Championships at Williams next week and the NCAA Div. III New England Regional Championships at Conn. College in two weeks. In preparation for Regionals, Tufts' top five runners will not be taking part in the ECACs. If the Jumbos are able to secure a top-five finish at Regionals, they would be eligible to earn a bid to the NCAA Championships. But doing so will be no easy task, as Regionals will feature most of the teams that competed in the NESCAC Championships as well as other top competition such as MIT, Keene State and the University of Southern Maine.
"For all of us, there is something to be improved upon," Welch said. "As a team, we know what we need to do. The goal is to run that race that will get us to Nationals. We still think we are a top three team in the region; it's just a matter of putting the pieces together and making the race happen."
