Following the unexpected and likely season-ending hip injury to top runner and All-American junior Steph McNamara, classmate Amy Wilfert claimed that the women's cross country team was "more than ready to step up." If Saturday's Trinity Invitational was any indication, the Jumbos will be just fine.
In a field of 100 runners, Wilfert breezed into first place, setting a blistering 5:54-mile pace in the shortened 4K race to win comfortably in 15:56. The junior outdistanced her next closest competitor, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) senior Michelle Wallace, by 16 seconds and the third-place finisher by nearly one minute.
"I just went out there with the plan of trying to stay relaxed and focused, getting back into racing," Wilfert said. "Winning wasn't anything overly spectacular. It's always exciting to win a race, but I guess in the end it was about seeing what the team was going to do. I finished, caught my breath and was cheering because that is the real priority."
Wilfert's victory marked the third time in as many years that a Tufts runner won the Trinity meet. In 2007, Katy O'Brien (LA '08) took first, while McNamara claimed victory by nineteen seconds last year. Wilfert's title remains extra sweet, however, as it marked the first such placement for the national-qualifying runner. On Monday, she was named the NESCAC's Performer of the Week for her efforts.
Yet in order to fully fill the void of McNamara's absence, the entire roster had to deliver — and it did. Collectively, the Jumbos finished second out of nine teams, racking up 40 points, just 12 behind TCNJ. With three runners in the top 10, Tufts locked into the runner-up spot after placing first in '07 and '08.
"Having [the younger runners] know that Steph might not be there for the rest of the season and having them step up to perform this early, it builds confidence," Wilfert said.
Sophomore Bryn Kass turned in the best race of her Tufts career at Trinity, taking fourth place in 16:48, two seconds behind American International College freshman Julie Collingnon.
"In running, there are so many variables that decide whether or not you run a good race," Kass said. "For whatever reason those things didn't add up as well last year for me, but it was nice to start right off the bat this year. I hope I can continue to build off that."
Kass' classmate Anya Price also turned in a top-10 performance, finishing in ninth place. The duo of second-years likely will be counted on to step up in lieu of McNamara, and so far they have delivered.
"With [Steph's injury] comes the expectation that everyone really needs to step up, and I think that people are realizing that and coming together now," Kass said. "One of the biggest things about cross country is having depth as a team. I think that's where we're really going to grow this year, to close the gap between our third and fourth runners."
The Jumbos spoke last week about establishing the depth necessary to earn the squad its first trip to Nationals since 2006, especially after graduating just one runner — Amy Hopkins (LA '09) — who regularly scored points. With eight runners in the top 30 at Trinity, the Jumbos are off to a good start.
Freshman Grace Hafner was six seconds out of the top 10, finishing 13th in 17:23, while junior Jen Yih placed 17th in 17:35, four seconds from the top 15. Juniors Isabel Hirsch (24th) and Elana Davidowitz (28th), in addition to sophomore Sadie Lansdale (26th), rounded out Tufts' best.
"The more people we can get to clump up to the front of the group, the better," Wilfert said. "They will displace other people on other teams, which will give us an advantage because our score will be lower. We struggled with that a little bit last year, so it's definitely a focus this year, and so far, it's been working really well."
The 4K race gave the Jumbos the opportunity to ease into the grind of the fall season, building up their endurance for the 6K meets later. They will have to do that quickly since just one race separates Tufts from the All-New England Championships on Oct. 10 at Franklin Park in Boston.
After a two-year absence from the Conn. College Invitational, the Jumbos, currently ranked No. 24 in the country and fifth in New England, will turn their attention to that meet next. Since 2003, Tufts has won the Conn. College Invitational twice and has never finished worse than fourth.
With a two-week layoff between races, the Jumbos will have plenty of time to prepare. The extended time off between meets should give Tufts the time to continue training and building mileage. Whereas the squad had meets every weekend in September last year, this season it has two Saturdays off between races and another before All-New Englands.
"The goal with the extra time off is to keep people from getting burned out from dealing with stress of racing," Wilfert said. "Right now, we're trying to use the time off to keep the training more intense."
