The women's cross country team traveled back to Franklin Park for the All−New England Championships just two weeks after competing there in the Codfish Bowl. Up against teams from all divisions, the women's cross country squad placed 22nd out of 39 on Saturday, a very warm day that slowed down the competitors' times.
Boston College took the team title in the varsity race, finishing with 38 points and placing four runners in the top 10. Boston University was a distant second with 73 points. Williams College was the top Div. III team in the race, finishing fourth with 165 points. Middlebury College finished sixth with 216 points.
Among the other Div. III New England rivals who finished ahead of the Jumbos were MIT in eighth, Amherst in 10th, Colby in 14th and Keene State in 20th. Tufts was 22nd with 596 points.
Katie Matthews of Boston University was the top individual finisher, finishing the 5k course in 17:18, 15 seconds ahead of second−place Morgan Powers of Vermont. Keri Lambert of Amherst was the top Div. III finisher, finishing seventh overall in 17:59.
Leading the way for the Jumbos was junior tri−captain Lilly Fisher, finishing 68th overall in 19:07. The sophomore trio of Lauren Creath, Abby Barker and Madeleine Carey were the next finishers for the squad. Creath was 114th in 19:47, Barker finished 129th in 19:59, and Carey was right behind in 136th in 20:03.
Rounding out the scorers was junior Melanie Monroe in 20:13, good for 150th place. The final two runners in the varsity race were sophomore Laura Peterson and junior Julia Hajnoczky. Peterson placed 158th with a time of 20:20 while Hajnoczky was 199th in 21:00.
The hot sun and dry air replaced the heavy air and humidity of two weeks ago, making for a tough racing environment. Though the times were in general a bit slower than in past years, there were still some great performances by many athletes in both the varsity and sub−varsity race.
Racing without senior tri−captain Anya Price, the Jumbos were forced to put their depth on display. In a race with so many athletes, the differential in points between the top runners and the fifth scorer can often be substantial, putting Tufts' depth in the forefront.
"Our depth really showed this weekend," Creath said. "There are a bunch of girls that are really pushing the top runners every day. It can only help our team to have more girls running at a high level."
One athlete who showed that she can support the top finishers was junior Lydia Jessup, who led the sub−varsity squad by finishing 66th in 20:14. The other sub−varsity finishers for Tufts were senior Lauren Flament — who is also a sports editor for the Daily — and junior Evelyn Orlando; they came in back−to−back in 90th and 91st.
In her first race this season after recovering from a foot injury, Jessup ran an impressive race, finishing just behind Monroe who ran in the varsity event.
"It is tough being behind in terms of fitness and workouts, but I definitely felt stronger than I thought I would," Jessup said. "I think that I have lot of room to grow and I have high expectations for myself and the team in future races this season."
One of the larger and more hectic races of the season, the meet provides a lot of energy in what is seen as a major tune−up for the championship races. With most of the Div. III teams in New England competing, it is a great opportunity for the teams to see where they stand at the midpoint of the season. The Jumbos finished just eighth out of the Div. III teams, so the runners know that they need to improve.
"I think it is really going to come down to the team that wants it the most," Creath said. "We've put in so much work. I think that we can get it and we have our hearts set on making it to nationals. We have to leave it all out there in the race and focus on picking off the runners that we need to beat."
Though Jessup has just started working out with the team again, she is aware of where the team can go with the talent and motivation they have as a group.
"Our season started off really strong and we are really excited about that," Jessup said. "I think this weekend put the season in perspective for us a little bit. We realize we can be a great team when we run as well as we can, but it is going to take a lot of huge individual efforts to reach our goals."
With three weeks until the NESCAC Championships, there is a lot of time for the time to regroup from a tough weekend at Franklin Park. Next weekend, the Jumbos will compete at the Conn. College Invitational.
