Tufts' senior tri-captains Katy O'Brien and Cat Beck were each back in full force this weekend, delivering a one-two punch at Saturday's Plansky Invitational in Williamstown, Mass. With O'Brien capturing first place in 18:46, good for her third win of the season, and Beck right behind her at 18:47, the pair locked up first and second place at the event.
But this time they were not alone at the front of the pack, with freshman teammate Stephanie McNamara coming in at 19:12 to nab third place and complete the Jumbos' sweep of the top three spots. Freshman Amy Wilfert and junior Amy Hopkins also turned out strong efforts, finishing fourth and fifth for Tufts, respectively.
"It's definitely great to have a pack of Tufts runners by you rather than other teams," O'Brien said. "Especially this weekend, we had a good lead pack. It's great to be able to run with your teammates. It helps you along the way in the race, and it encourages you and inspires you."
The performances of O'Brien, Beck and McNamara also nailed down the team title. The Jumbos and host Ephs were neck and neck in team competition with the Ephs putting up a solid effort, challenging the Jumbos by taking fifth place individually as well as the seventh through 11th spots. Tufts ultimately prevailed, however, scoring 34 points to edge Williams, which tallied 39.
But what was just as important to the Jumbos was their successful performance on a course that will be home to Oct. 27's NESCAC Championships and to the ECAC Championships, held the following weekend. Though the Invitational also featured a 4,000-meter race, in which the Jumbos had participated in previous years, coach Kristen Morwick opted to place her entire squad in the 5k competition to maximize the runners' experience on the course.
"We were more just looking to get good training in," McNamara said. "[Morwick] wanted us to see as much of the course as possible before our NESCAC race. A lot of freshmen had never run there before, and she wanted to give us the chance to run as long of a course as possible to get the most feel for it."
As the only NESCAC team to visit Williamstown this weekend, the Jumbos are hoping the added experience gained on the course will give them a boost against an extremely tough group of conference rivals when the championship meets, which will be a 6k distance, roll around.
"This week's race is a good heads-up for the meet two weeks from now," McNamara said. "It's 6k, but it still encompasses most of the course from [Saturday]. The fact that we now have a little familiarity is definitely an advantage for us."
"It definitely helped to see the course before so you know where the hills are, how difficult you think the course is, and where you should save your energy," senior Anna Shih added. "I think it will be good for all the new people on the team."
While Tufts' No. 1, 2 and 3 runners seem to be in good shape, the Jumbos will use the next two weeks to tighten up the rest of their top seven lineup. And because a significant portion of the Tufts squad is composed of new faces, this weekend's race can only leave the team better equipped next time around.
"We're talking about a lot of freshmen and new people who have never run these courses and who don't know the competition, and that's two thirds of our team," Morwick said. "Every week they get a little more confident, and based on what I see in workouts, they could push a little more and be okay."
The Jumbos will now take a week off from competition in order to prepare for the NESCAC Championships, with the added time allowing them to train hard without worrying about having to recover for a race.
"We'll just do the workout as opposed to running a race," O'Brien said. "It's always good to have a weekend off, but we'll definitely get in a good week of training as well."
The team will have to be at its best come championship time, as the conference giants, such as Amherst, are looking powerful as ever.
"We just need to continue to improve," Morwick said. "This was our first race this season where we raced our top group together, and obviously it makes a difference. We still have people coming off injury issues ... in two weeks, we'll be better, and two weeks from then we'll be that much better."
"I think we're expecting that the competition will be fairly hard since the NESCAC is one of the most competitive teams in the nation," Shih added. "We're going to see how many people in their top five we can put people in front of and see how well we can do against them."
