Coming off a fifth-place finish at NESCACs two weeks ago, the men's cross country team needed to turn in its best performance of the year at Div. III Regionals Saturday to even have a chance at participating in NCAA Championships next week.
The Jumbos did exactly that.
They finished in third place out of 47 teams with 135 points, behind only NESCAC rivals Williams with 118 points and Amherst with 117. After Tufts came Trinity, which tallied 148, and Bowdoin, which came in just behind at 150. All five New England teams earned bids to NCAAs, with Tufts taking an at-large bid.
"We were all elated," senior tri-captain Chris Kantos said. "It was pretty surreal, because going into the race, no one expected us to finish that well. Even if we were going to be able to secure one of the at-large bids, people thought we were going to finish fifth or sixth. When we found out we were third, it was just overwhelming joy."
The top finisher on the day was Williams sophomore Edgar Kosgey, who finished the flat Connecticut College course in 24:55. Turning in a tremendous performance for the Jumbos was sophomore Jesse Faller, who came in third at 25:04. Senior tri-captain Dave Sorensen finished 11th with a time of 25:11, while Kantos checked in at 16th in 25:14. Sophomore Nick Welch came in 31st in 25:30, and freshman Greg Pallotta was the last scoring Jumbo, coming in 74th with a 26:11.
Freshman Jerzy Eisenberg-Guyot followed up a strong ECAC performance with a 110th place finish in 26:47. Junior Dave Tilton rounded out the day for the Jumbos, taking 129th in 27:05.
The Jumbos credited a significant philosophy shift between NESCACs and Regionals for their success. At NESCACs, Tufts took a conservative pace for the first mile and ended up in poor position to make a run at top spots.
"We knew going into Regionals yesterday that we had to take a little more of a risk," Welch said. "We weren't one of the favorites that could go out conservatively and see how things shake out. We had to go out early on and put ourselves in a position to finish in the top two or three.
"We normally say to put yourself where you want to finish at mile four," Welch continued. "But at Regionals, it's almost like you have to do that at mile two. Like Coach Barron told us, we had to fly a little closer to the sun."
The top Jumbos did a good job at pack running while taking this aggressive approach. Despite the increased pace, their top three scorers all finished within 10 seconds of each other.
At one point in the middle of the race, Kantos and Welch were leading the 250-plus field of runners, with Sorensen and Faller not far behind them.
"We couldn't simply go at this race with the same mentality and approach as NESCACs and hope for a different result," coach Ethan Barron wrote in an e-mail to the Daily. "When we were holding onto the top two positions for the first couple miles of the race, many people expected us to fade in a big way ... We are a good team, but not good enough that we could qualify with a B or B-plus day. Everyone stepped up."
Tufts will now look to the NCAA Championships at St. Olaf in Minnesota this weekend, and may actually have a slight advantage in the field. Kantos' home town of Apple Valley, Minn. is about 20 minutes from St. Olaf and he ran the course in high school.
"I'm probably more familiar with it than anyone else running in the race," he said. "A large majority of the course is rolling hills. But it's nothing too bad. It's definitely not flat like Connecticut College, but it's not too intense either."
Becoming the ninth team in school history to make the NCAA Championships, the Jumbos now hope to make an impact on the national scene. Only Kantos and Sorensen have Nationals experience, but the team's performance at Regionals has proven its potential.
"The guys raced superbly this weekend, but ultimately, they are all capable of even better," Barron said. "People think that was our A+ day - it wasn't even close to that. We still have plenty left in the tank and plenty more goals to hit."
