After a sixth-place team finish at last weekend's NCAA Regionals race left the women's cross country team ineligible for a team championship berth and erased the Jumbos' chances to follow up on their best-ever performance at Nationals, three runners accomplished a feat that even last year's squad couldn't manage.
By placing 16th, 21st and 30th respectively in a field of 280 at Saturday's NCAA Div. III Championships, senior tri-captains Katy O'Brien and Cat Beck and freshman Stephanie McNamara each took home All-American honors from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. The result was a step forward for a program that boasted just two All-Americans last year.
"We were looking to place in the top 35, but it was definitely a tough goal to accomplish," O'Brien said. "We were really happy that it did end up happening."
"We were the only New England team to have three All-Americans, and there were only seven total in [the region]," coach Kristen Morwick said. "Our girls ran better than anyone in New England. They were unbelievable."
O'Brien led the Jumbo runners, completing the difficult course in 21:47 to grab 16th for the second straight year. Beck was just a few paces behind, clocking a 21:52 finish for her best-ever showing at the event. O'Brien and Beck garnered cross country All-American accolades for the second time in their careers.
Beck and O'Brien have made headlines for three seasons now, but possibly the biggest story to come out of Minnesota was McNamara's 22:04 run, which made her the first Jumbo freshman to ever receive All-American recognition at Nationals.
"It's such a big event, and it's so easy to get lost in everything that's going on over the course of three days," McNamara said. "The thing I really had to work on was to remember that this is another race - that's basically what it boiled down to, and that's what I had to focus on. I had to block out a lot of this extra stuff. It was hard, but in the end it really worked."
"She just did a tremendous job," Beck said of McNamara. "There's a lot of pressure, and it's impossible not to feel nervous. She was able to turn all of those feelings into an amazing performance and show composure and maturity as a racer. It's a great sign for things to come. Hopefully she can lead the team there next year."
After improving from 15th place to ninth between NESCAC Championships and the New England Regionals, McNamara was able to beat out some of the conference's top competitors that had edged her in previous races.
"Some of it was that she didn't know the competition," Morwick said. "Every week she got more familiar with them and got closer to people. She was used to running out really hard, and we were trying to hold her back a little and have a strategy that fit more for her strengths.
"I have never had a freshman this focused and this determined," she continued. "She said to me on Friday, 'Do you think I can be top-50?' and I said, 'I think you're going to be All-American if you run like you've been running'. Basically that was her plan - 'I'm going be All-American'- and she just went and did it."
The Jumbos tied for the lead in top-35 runners, surpassing even national-champion Amherst. Part of the Jumbos' success came due to their race plan, which they were able to stick to effectively.
"Our plan was to get out, but not too hard, because we knew that first mile was pretty tough," Morwick said. "All three of them [were] in the top 35 to 40 through a mile and a half, and then they basically just moved up ... It's a good strategy because a lot of people went out pretty hard and died."
"When you get to a meet with as much talent as Nationals had, you really have to do a good job of juggling the need to get out and get good position with the need to hold back and conserve something for the end of the race," Beck said. "Luckily, we got really good advice to try to stay relaxed and push the latter half of the race."
The accomplishments of O'Brien, Beck and McNamara are even more impressive in light of injuries that compromised at least a portion of each runner's summer training. Beck in particular has seen a drastic turnaround after being sidelined to start the season.
"I'm so proud of her for even making it to Nationals, let alone improving dramatically on what she did last year," Morwick said.
"Personally, it's been very exciting and slightly emotional just because it's my last collegiate cross country race," Beck said. "It's an amazing ending to a season I wasn't even sure I would have in September. I think I speak for Katy as well when I say we're very thankful for all the opportunities we've had through this program."
