Although its top seven took the weekend off from competition to prepare for Saturday's New England Regional Championships, the women's cross country team's second seven stayed busy, running to a solid 11th-place finish in a field of 31 at ECAC Championships in Williamstown., Mass.
"Overall, everyone ran pretty well," junior Susan Allegretti said. "Everyone went out there and definitely put it on the line and really gave it their all - I'm positive of that."
Tufts tallied 327 points on the day, with the battle at the top coming down to Williams and Amherst. With 47 points, the host Ephs took the crown despite Amherst senior Katie Moravec's capturing the individual title and freshmen Kristen Ballinger and Hallie Schwab's placing within the top five.
The Jumbos were led by junior Amy Hopkins, whose 24:16 time landed her in 34th place overall. The mark was well below the 26:25 that she posted in last weekend's NESCAC Championships on the same 6,000-meter course. Allegretti was not far behind, clocking a 25:02 finish, good for 56th place.
"Susan's made a tremendous amount of progress over the course of the season," senior tri-captain Cat Beck said. "She came in really struggling and has worked really hard and stayed mentally very positive. I think everyone is really proud to see how she has progressed and come back into her own as a runner, and it's exciting to see her have stronger races and look a lot better out there."
Strong performances from the Jumbo freshmen rounded out the scoring, with Isabel Hirsh, Jennifer Yih, and Tina Millburn checking in at 61st, 88th, and 97th, respectively.
"All three of them just came in really strong and have been very consistent runners for us," Beck said. "They're great new assets to the team. In the future, these girls are going to progress and get better and better.
"It's always hard adjusting coming into college," Beck continued. "They've really just shown how tough they are and how prepared they are and how ready they are to contribute more and more to the team every year."
Solid races from juniors Elyse Rosenberg and tri-captain Betsy Aronson kept all seven runners, many of whom saw marked improvements in their times from last week, within the top 150 in a field of 242 competitors.
Milder weather conditions and a less-intense training regimen over the course of the past week also helped trim the Jumbos' times.
"The weather last week was definitely not favorable," Hopkins said. "The course was really muddy and just very soft. Today, it was much better. Although it was colder, it was much drier and easier to race on. That contributed to most of our faster times.
"A lot of people also took it a bit easier over the last week for training," Hopkins continued. "I think a lot of us were feeling much fresher from tapering and cutting back on workouts."
The team was also helped by its familiarity with the course, where it has run each of its two previous races.
"It's really helpful to know the course before you run it," Allegretti said. "Even in the regular season, for instance, we run at Franklin Park in Boston, and sometimes we'll go out on a Tuesday or Thursday and run on the course just because it will give you a feel for it. We're fortunate that we had a race there beforehand; it really does help run the course well."
"It's just easier because you know how you're supposed to feel at certain points and if you don't feel that way, to make sure to get yourself there and just in general the times you should expect," Hopkins said.
The top seven will be back in action at Saturday's all-important regional championship. As dictated by a relatively new system, the top two teams at the meet will earn automatic berths to the national championship race, while several squads will be left vying for at-large invitations. Currently ranked 31st nationally, Tufts sits behind six other New England schools and will need a strong showing this weekend to get a crack at a national bid.
