The women's cross country team opened the season in stellar fashion at the Maine Invitational at Bowdoin College on Saturday. Facing teams who bested them at the end of last year, the Jumbos made a statement to start off the fall, taking the team title over a field containing several quality squads.
The Jumbos placed three runners in the top 10 and finished with 49 points, eight points ahead of second place Colby. Keene State was third with 60 points and Bowdoin had 72 points, good for fourth. Paige Mills from Keene State took the individual title, running the six-kilometer course in 21:45.
Senior tri-captain Anya Price led the way for the Jumbos in third place, finishing with a time of 22:13. Junior tri-captain Lilly Fisher crossed the line second for the Jumbos, and sixth overall at 22:32. A trio of sophomores contributed the final three scores for Tufts. Lauren Creath and Abby Barker ran solid season openers; Creath finished ninth overall in 22:48 while Barker was seven seconds behind at 22:55, good for 14th place. The final scorer for the Jumbos was Laura Peterson, who finished 17th overall in 23:16.
Rounding out the top seven were junior Julia Hajnoczky and sophomore Madeleine Carey, both of whom cracked the top 25. Hajnoczky was 21st in 23:26, while Carey finished just one second back in 22nd. The top freshman for Tufts was Isa Cuervo, who had an impressive 6k debut, finishing in 23:42, good for 27th place overall and eighth on the team.
Though the season is still very young, having a solid start against some of best teams in the region is a huge boost for the squad's morale.
"Everyone is feeling optimistic after this race," Fisher said. "The course is fast and so people were able to post some really good times and we all gave some great efforts. Competing well against the best teams is something we'll have to do to accomplish our goals this year, so this was a great start."
Peterson's race marked one of the standout performances for the Jumbos, as she moved up well in the second half to score for the team.
"I wasn't expecting it to be such a fast course," Peterson said. "Having a good race like that this early in the season is really awesome for me, and it built a lot of confidence for me moving forward. Now I can focus on helping the team and pushing myself to run with faster girls to improve and push the team to another level."
Using each other during races is something the Jumbos are really focusing on during workouts to help push past their normal limits. The team hopes to use its depth and chemistry to its advantage.
"We definitely focus on working as a pack and using teammates around us," Fisher said. "It is helpful to know where your teammates are during a race, even if they aren't directly next to you. During workouts we are trying to build habits that we can use during races, like running as a pack and negative splitting the race."
In addition to competing well against quality teams, this weekend served as an opportunity to preview a course to which the squad will return for the Regional Championships in November.
"The course is fast all the way around," Peterson said. "I focused on building momentum whenever I got a chance and carrying it as long as I could. It was definitely good to see the course so that we know where we can make moves and try to speed up all the way through the finish."
After just one race, the Jumbos can breathe a little easier knowing that they will have at least one runner who can compete toward the front of the race, something that was in doubt after the departure of All-American Amy Wilfert (LA '11).
"Having Anya able to run with the top few girls was great and is a huge boost for our team in terms of points," Peterson said. "Now we see that the top teams are not out of our league, and we can compete with the best teams in the region."
The Jumbos know that one race in September isn't going to make or break any of their goals and their focus is still on the future. They know they still have a lot of room to improve for when it matters most.
"Continuing to push each other in workouts is key," Peterson said. "Working hard as a team during all our workouts is going to be the biggest piece to help us succeed come race time."
The Jumbos will take their momentum from this past weekend to Franklin Park in Boston for the Codfish Bowl on Saturday.
