Although the season may be over for the majority of the women's cross country team, for sophomores Stephanie McNamara and Amy Wilfert, tomorrow's race marks the biggest of them all.
The pair will compete in the NCAA Championship race in Hanover, Ind., having earned individual at-large berths at last weekend's NESCAC Championship race; Tufts took sixth and failed to qualify for team consideration for the second straight year.
"We were pretty disappointed that we got sixth again this year and that we just missed out again," McNamara said. "It was pretty close in terms of last weekend, but at the same time, you still have to be proud that we're sending two people out there, and we're both going to represent Tufts the best we can."
The national stage is nothing new to McNamara, whose 30th-place finish earned her All-American honors in last year's race along with teammates and then-senior tri-captains Cat Beck (LA '08) and Katy O'Brien (E '08). McNamara said she hopes to use her experience and improve on last year's showing.
"Right now in terms of numbers, I would definitely look for improving on my place from last year," McNamara said. "I think that's a pretty good goal. I know the competition scale is different this year -- there are some seniors that are gone. With that in mind, I'd like to move up and hopefully really make a jump in place."
Wilfert, on the other hand, will be making the trip to Nationals for the first time, after a breakout 2008 season. The product of diligent summer training, Wilfert has been a consistent No. 2 behind McNamara throughout the course of the season and went from finishing 79th at last year's NCAA New England Championships to 14th at the race last weekend.
"I'm really happy with how far I've progressed," Wilfert said. "Last year, honestly, going to Nationals was kind of a long, far reach. I didn't really know if it would happen by sophomore year or junior year. I really worked hard over the summer -- I definitely wanted to get back to where I was in high school and be competitive within our region and Div. III, so I could not be happier."
"I think talent-wise, it's always been there," coach Kristen Morwick said. "I don't think she's new to this level of running; I just don't think she's done it in college yet."
And while Wilfert is confident that garnering All-American honors is within her reach, she is more concerned with putting out her best effort than anything else.
"Really, I just want to end the season on a good note," Wilfert said. "I'm kind of a lot more calm about this than I was for Div. IIIs and NESCACs. I knew where I had to be in terms of times, I guess, but here it's kind of go out and do your best and sometimes it's good enough and sometimes it's not, but I'm hoping it will be."
While McNamara has suffered at times this season from pushing too hard at the get-go in order to keep pace with the frontrunner, at a race the size of Nationals, getting out quickly will be essential.
"You have to go out hard and establish a position," Morwick said. "The race is so crowded at the top, so for them to take it too easy would be an even bigger mistake."
But the pair won't be short on worthy NESCAC competitors who can provide some points of reference, as teams from Middlebury, Williams and Amherst will be competing for the team crown. Additionally, both McNamara and Wilfert will likely be surrounded by other runners for the entirety of the race, which could keep them from losing steam at the end.
"At Nationals, in that last part of the race, you're with a lot of the people in the top 30," Morwick said. "Even if you're struggling, you're still racing people and there's more motivation to push. When you're alone and there's no one around you and you're wondering if there's someone coming up behind you, it's harder to focus.
"That will be different this week," she continued. "I think having people to pull them through the last mile is going to really help them. If it comes down to a kick, I feel really confident that both of them have the best kicks out there ... I think it'll be a better situation even if they go out a little too hard."
