Beck, O'Brien leave behind young but experienced squad

    To say that replacing graduated seniors Cat Beck (LA '07) and Katy O'Brien (E '07) would be nearly impossible is an understatement.
    But despite the loss of the Jumbos' potent one-two punch, both of whom helped lead the team to a program-best fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championship in 2006 and earned multiple All-American honors over the course of their impressive collegiate campaigns, this season's Jumbos are still hopeful that they can earn the NCAA bid that eluded them last season.
    "I'm really looking forward to the October-November time period," sophomore Stephanie McNamara said. "I know we're really, really trying to go after getting to Nationals as a team. We were so close last year, and hopefully now that we have a little more depth we can really achieve that goal. I'm looking at Div. III as a huge meet and also at NESCACs — we want to place high there."
    And while the Jumbos' offseason losses were significant, graduation hardly spared their rivals, taking several of New England's elite runners. Among them were top competitors from many NESCAC schools, including Amherst's Heather Wilson and Kim Partee, Colby's Anna King and Bowdoin's Laura Onderko.
    "Hopefully, if they take five teams again from New England [for NCAAs,] we have a shot at one of those spots," coach Kristen Morwick said. "The teams ahead of us, a couple of them graduated a lot of people, so we're not the only one who lost significant runners. It's not like we're unique in that. We lost Katy and Cat, and obviously they were two of the best, but our top kids will be really competitive with anyone in New England. It's really a matter of how the new people end up doing."
    While last year's squad struggled to close the gap between the trio of Beck, O'Brien and McNamara and the rest of the pack, this year's top seven won't be as top-heavy. The combination of a year of experience for last year's new runners, the new group of freshmen and the graduations of Beck and O'Brien should make for a more balanced lineup in the coming season.
    "Katy and Cat were some of the best runners in the nation, not to mention in the conference or on this team," Morwick said. "A few people have come in that really fit this year, and it's definitely a more cohesive group. We'll see how the freshmen kind of fill in the spots — it shouldn't be as big a difference between 1-2-3 as it was last year, but even still, it hurts losing those two. It's just going to be a really different-looking team this year."
    Similarly to last season, however, Tufts will boast a young squad, with the incoming freshman class nearly doubling the size of the team.
    "We have a pretty solid new pack of freshmen," senior Amy Hopkins said. "We're all excited about that — to see some new faces and just to get some early and new talent out on the courses. They're all very strong runners; we've been running with them the past couple days or so and getting to know them, and I think they'll be a great addition to our team."
    Despite their youth, the Jumbos are far from lacking in leadership, with senior veterans Erica Hylton and Susan Allegretti coming in to join senior Betsy Aronson, one of last year's tri-captains, in the other two captains' roles.
    "Our captains this year are awesome," McNamara said. "Even the other sophomores and juniors are looking up to them for leadership. I think they're going to do a great job leading the team this year."
    Also key for the Jumbos this season will be McNamara, whose stellar freshman campaign set milestones for Tufts in 2007. After her 15th-place showing at NESCACs  cemented her as the Jumbos' No. 3 runner, McNamara went on to earn a championship berth with a ninth-place finish at Regionals before becoming the Jumbos' first-ever freshman to earn All-American honors in women's cross country. The Jumbos will look to McNamara to lead the pack in the absence of Beck and O'Brien.
    "She's up to the challenge," Morwick said. "She put in a good summer and she's capable of doing anything she wants to in cross country. She's a really talented runner and a really hard worker who is very focused on training and performance."
    Luckily for the Jumbos, the team will return from the summer relatively injury-free, a much-welcome change from the 2007 season. At this time last year, injuries plagued the Jumbos both on and off the-course, with Beck and then-junior Katie Rizzolo sitting out to start the season and O'Brien and McNamara heading into competition following extensive summer rehab stints.
    "It's really exciting because there haven't been many injuries at all," Hopkins said. "Coming in, it's always a big plus. It's been an issue in the past with people being a little too ambitious during the summer or overtraining a bit, but from the runs we've had so far, it seems like everyone was able to get their miles in and train smart through the summer, so they're healthy and ready to go and really take off."
    "We've had [a few] chances to see where people are fitness-wise and what they're ready for," Hopkins continued. "I'm really excited to see a group of returners as well as healthy freshmen coming in that will be ready to train hard at the beginning of the season and hopefully through the rest of the season too."
    The Jumbos will officially start the season Saturday at the annual Trinity Invitational. While Tufts dominated the competition last year, placing five runners in the top 10, the Jumbos' focus is more on getting a sense of where they are training-wise than on winning the race.
    "It's a very low-key meet," Morwick said. "It's nice to start with a race that's shorter. It's a very difficult course — it's very hilly, and it's still early in the year, so it's going to be warm. It allows us to see where we are in a scenario where we're not racing top competition in the league."
    "Trinity has a good team," she continued. "They're not a pushover, but there are some smaller teams at the meet. It's nice to open up against a more relaxed field. I just like to see people get out and race for the first time. It's just a good way to test the waters."