The men's cross country team captured a seventh place finish among 24 teams at the Codfish Bowl this Saturday, despite missing most of its varsity squad.
A smaller crew of only 11 runners suited up for the Jumbos to compete at Franklin Park in a field of 286 athletes, including competitors from NESCAC foe Bates, which won the meet with 49 points. The Jumbos combined for a score of 219 points among teams of all divisions.
Rough racing conditions stood in the way of hitting impressive times on the 8,000−meter course, but the Jumbos still put in a good showing, demonstrating their depth this season.
Tufts was led by graduate student Jerzy Eisenberg−Guyot (LA '11), who finished in 27:03 for 33rd place.
"It wasn't an especially good or bad race for me," Eisenberg−Guyot said. "I went out way too fast the first mile, especially considering it was really hot and humid and muddy, and I paid for that the next four miles. It was my first race in a while, so I was kind of rusty, but I ran hard and I garnered from it and finished hard."
Two places and four seconds behind Eisenberg−Guyot was sophomore Andrew Shapero, who finished in 27:07.
"I went out how I wanted to, around 5:05 for the first mile," Shapero said. "It is a fast start with the downhill, and then I wanted to settle into [a] 5:15 pace, but it ended up being a much slower pace.
"I had a good 8k last week, but I was just tired this weekend," added Shapero, who was the fifth finisher for Tufts last Saturday at the Maine Invitational in 25:52 on a much flatter and faster course, and with better weather.
Sophomore Jake McCauley was the third finisher for the Jumbos, crossing the line in 27:27 to capture 52nd place. Tufts' scorers were rounded out by sophomore Bobby McShane and freshman Justin Rheingold, who took 71st and 83rd, respectively, with times of 28:02 and 28:13. The final members of the Jumbos' top seven were senior Jeff Prescott in 28:23 for 86th place and freshman Cyrus Cousins in 28:26 for 88th.
"A lot of people had a rough day," Eisenberg−Guyot said. "Jake McCauley ran really well and Andrew Shapero had an OK race, but most other people had a tough time. We're all running high mileage, and people were tired from a hard week of training and from racing last week, so it was a hard day for people mentally."
According to Eisenberg−Guyot, among the mix of people racing were athletes who sat out last weekend due to injury or illness and upperclassmen whose campaigns will not extend into the championship season. Missing most of the usual varsity crew allowed younger athletes to step up and show the depth the Jumbos have this season.
"It was good to see people not usually in the top seven scoring for the team," Shapero said.
"We have really good depth this year — better than we've had before," Eisenberg−Guyot added. "Shapero and I finished around 20 seconds behind Bates' fifth man, and Bates is going to be big competition at Regionals. We're going to be showing down with them for a national spot, so having Shapero and I, who are both on the cusp of being in the top seven, sticking close to their fifth and fourth runner shows the depth we have in our varsity guys."
The squad will take next weekend off and then return to Franklin Park on Oct. 8 for Open New Englands, where the Jumbos will face off against the region's top runners spanning all three collegiate divisions.
