During 2006's NESCAC Championships, the men's cross country team finished a disappointing eighth out of 11 teams.
This weekend, the Jumbos will finally have a shot at redemption.
The team will travel to Williams tomorrow for the biggest race of the season to date with the hope of improving on its worst-ever showing at last year's meet.
"We want to do well because it is the NESCACs," freshman Greg Pallotta said. "But this meet also has a bearing on a national bid, so we want to get that as well."
Between 2003 and 2005, the cross country team reached unprecedented levels of success, finishing first in the NESCAC Championships and Div. III Regionals for three consecutive years.
Last year, however, the Jumbos fell off their perch, finishing poorly in the NESCACs, only to follow that up with a fifth-place finish at Div. III Regionals.
"We obviously don't want to see the same outcome [this year]," senior tri-captain Dave Sorensen said. "It's going to be tight and we have to pull it all together and race well. I don't think there are any teams that we can't beat. Our top five can definitely match up with anyone else's."
While that may be the case, the Jumbos will have to prove it against some stiff competition. They will have to beat strong teams from Williams, last year's NESCAC champion, and Amherst, both top-25 teams nationally.
"Even though Williams lost to MIT two weeks ago, I think they're regarded as the favorite," sophomore Nick Welch said. "They have a strong team and they're as deep as they were last year. Everyone's looking for ways to bring them down."
Although taking down the Ephs is no easy task, Tufts will be running on familiar terrain. Their last race, the Plansky Invitational on Oct. 13, took place at Williams, which will host NESCACs tomorrow. The only difference between the two races is that the course has been extended from 6,000 meters in the Plansky Invitational to the standard 8k length of the NESCACs.
"One advantage [from seeing the course] is that it's a little bit of a way to calm the mind," Welch said. "We're all thinking about the race for these next few days, but rather than trying to visualize a race course that we've seen two years ago or never at all, we get to think about a course we've seen two weeks ago."
This familiarity with the course should also give the Jumbos a tactical advantage.
"It will help a lot because it's not completely new to you," Pallotta said. "You know how the course goes and where the hills are. It just makes it easier, and it definitely helps our confidence."
Beyond its knowledge of the course, the squad will rely on its front pack to secure a top finish.
"We're fortunate to have a very tight pack in our top five," Welch said. "We've had three different number ones and the order changes every race. That allows us to pack up during the race, and instead of running as individuals, we're running as a group of five. The longer we can stick together, the better, because we can push each other on."
Along with Sorensen, Welch and Pallotta, the Jumbos will be looking for major contributions from sophomore Jesse Faller and senior tri-captain Chris Kantos, who has been injured for most of the year. Because of Kantos' injury, the team has not had many chances to race with its top five intact.
This weekend will mark only the second time this season that the Jumbos will race at full strength. As a result, the team expects NESCACs to be one of its strongest races of the year.
"We haven't had a race where we've all been in it and all ran to our potential," Welch said. "We know what we're capable of. We think we can go out there and surprise people, and at the end of the day the only guys who aren't going be surprised are going to be on our bus.
"Our top five can run with any top five in our region," he continued. "It's going to be tight for the top six teams, so it comes down to every man in the last mile. But I think we're as capable as anyone."
