The men's cross country team opened its season Saturday at the Bates Invitational in New Gloucester, Maine.
Out of the 78 competitors, the Jumbos placed four in the top 10, led by sophomore Matt Rand in sixth with a time of 26:41 on the 8,000-meter course. Senior co-captain Jeffrey Ragazzini followed with 26:45 to claim seventh.
Sophomores Sam Haney and Tyler Andrews rounded out the top 10 in ninth and 10th place, just one second apart with times of 26:49 and 26:50, respectively. Classmate Kyle Marks was close behind in 12th place, running a time of 26:53.
"I think the performance of the meet far and away was Sam Haney's performance," Ragazzini said. "In his first contribution as a top seven runner, he was third on the team, less than 10 seconds behind our first finisher."
In a uniquely decided meet, in which each team's top ten runners were scored, Tufts took third out of four teams, falling to NESCAC competitors Bates and Bowdoin, but defeating Colby.
Tufts runners used the meet as a chance to brush the cobwebs off their racing shoes without worrying much about how they finished among the competition. The team worked on running a controlled pace in the first half of the race and then on catching opponents in the second.
"The plan was to tempo the first half and then pick it up if we felt good," Rand said. "I think everyone did a good job with that … and everyone kept it in control the first half. It was a solid first effort of the season."
"We used the race as a glorified workout," Ragazzini said. "We had a really tight pack of probably five to 10 guys all running together for the first three miles, and we split up a little for the next few miles but then all came together pretty close at the end."
This use of pack running could be a powerful tool for later in the season, and with a deeper and closer team than before, it could be more possible than ever.
"When we're racing more important meets against strong teams, running as a pack presents a more challenging task to our opponent, because passing a group of four runners all together is always harder than passing four runners spread over the course," Ragazzini said.
"I think a lot of the guys have made some steps up and some improvements from last year and they will be closer to the front," Rand said. "Plus some of the freshmen will be packing up and running together, so I think we will be pretty tight in the races this year."
Without a clear leader as in years past, having a tight varsity squad will be more important than ever.
"This will be the first season that we've run without a dominant frontrunner," Ragazzini said. "We had Jesse Faller (E '10) leading the way for three years, but now Tufts cross country is a very different beast, having five guys who could all be the number one on any given day."
Though the team was happy with its first performance of the season, the Jumbos still have to put in a lot of work before they are at the place they want to be.
"The team is very fit," Ragazzini said. "We're more fit than we've ever been at this point in the season, but its not specific 8k fitness right now. We're all ready to work really hard and do the work that gets us into 8k shape."
The team had 22 members step on the line Saturday, missing about a quarter of their squad. Most freshmen rested this weekend but will make their collegiate cross country debut next Saturday.
"[The freshmen are] running more miles and more races so we didn't want them to burn out early in the season," Rand said. "We're just breaking them in so they'll still be feeling good in November."
Tufts will travel to Williamstown, Mass. on Saturday to compete in the Purple Valley Classic hosted by Williams, this time with the full team on the line.
"It will be exciting racing with a full squad next weekend, because as deep as we were this weekend, we have another ten to 20 guys ready to fill the ranks even fuller," Ragazzini said.
The meet will be the Jumbos' first of two races on the course, as they will return to Williamstown in November for the NCAA New England Regional Championship.
"We're running the Regionals course next week, so the main thing is to get a feel for that," Rand said. "There will be great competition out there, so we'll be able to see where we stand right now against some of the best guys in the region. It will be a good starting point to see where we have to go in the next few months."
