Rarely in sports does a fifth-place finish hold as much significance as it does at the NCAA Women's Cross Country New England Championship.
In arguably the nation's strongest region, only the top-five teams are eligible for bids to Nationals, with the top-two finishers earning automatic berths and the third- through fifth-place finishers earning consideration for at-large invitations.
Things almost went according to the Div. III rankings at Regionals this Saturday. NESCAC giants Williams and Middlebury qualified automatically, though Middlebury upset Williams at the top, pulling away with a 25-point lead after tying the Ephs for a share of the conference championship two weeks ago. Behind them were MIT, ranked third in the region, and Colby, ranked fourth.
But the important upset for the Jumbos, ranked fifth in New England, came in the battle for that all-important fifth-place spot -- one that went to New England's No. 6 team, 2007 National Champion Amherst.
The defending champs had looked more than vulnerable over the course of the past few weeks after injuries and illnesses took their toll on the lineup. Amherst dropped considerably in the rankings, and it took fifth place behind the Jumbos in the conference championship race.
But running without their No. 2, senior Caitlin McDermott-Murphy, and with maladies plaguing two more of their top five, the Lord Jeffs rallied back, beating Tufts by 23 points to lock up the final spot for Nationals consideration and leaving the Jumbos in the dust for the second straight year.
"Basically, in the past few races, Amherst has had some off days," junior Lisa Picascia said. "We were up ahead of them, and yesterday they just performed really well. I think if we had performed at our best, we would still be able to take them, but it just didn't happen."
"We were a little bit disappointed," sophomore Elana Davidowitz said. "We were kind of going out to get Colby and Amherst and even shooting for MIT, but also a lot of those teams just raced really well. Some of us had better days than other people, but I guess we tried our best ... I think we probably could have done a little better, and we really wanted that spot at Nationals."
Despite the lackluster team finish, some strong individual performances provided highlights for the Jumbos on Saturday. Most notable were those from sophomores Stephanie McNamara and Amy Wilfert, who will both make the trip to Hanover, Ind., this weekend for Nationals to compete individually based on their respective fourth- and 14th-place showings at the New England Championship with times of 23:01.8 and 23:15.2, respectively.
The championship race, to be held this upcoming Saturday, will be the second for McNamara, who joined then-senior tri-captains Cat Beck (LA '08) and Katy O'Brien (E '08) last year as a freshman.
McNamara, along with Beck and O'Brien, garnered All-American honors by cracking the top 35 with a 30th-place finish last year. The appearance will be the first for Wilfert, whose marked turnaround this year helped her qualify after coming in 80th in last year's regional meet.
"I was really upset after the race -- I think a lot of us were -- but you have to remember that two of the girls did make it and are fighting for All-American spots," Davidowitz said. "Not many teams can say that."
"Even though it didn't happen, we're still really proud of Amy and Steph, so we're going to support them," Picascia added.
Other noteworthy performances came from freshman Anya Price, who crossed the finish line at 24:05.9, third for the Jumbos and 40th overall. Davidowitz also had a standout race, finishing 73rd behind Picascia, who came in 66th. With Tufts' No. 6, senior Veronica Jackson, sidelined with an infection in her knee and alternate freshman Bryn Kass in her place, Davidowitz, the team's No. 7, raced to fifth for the team, passing senior Amy Hopkins, who took 113th.
"You can't ever really predict the day," Picascia said. "Sometimes, things just happen that you can't explain. But Elana did a really great job of trying to step up and take that spot. She did have a good race, and we're really proud of her for doing what she did."
Still, the season-ending finish for many of the Jumbo runners marred the individual successes for the day.
"I can't say I was completely satisfied," Davidowitz said. "It just meant more to me to be able to have our team do well together. It was fine, I was glad, and I feel like I did all that I could, but there's always that feeling that you could have done more and you could have set the team over the edge just to get that spot. The disappointment kind of outweighed that personal success.
"But, we're not really graduating too many top runners," she continued. "It's really comforting. We're all young and we still have a few more years to put it together. We're all just going to work really hard on training during the track season and hope for the best for next year, but we're in a fortunate position."
