The women's cross country team saved their best team race for last, capping off their season with a 20th- place finish out of 32 teams at the Div. III NCAA Championship, hosted by Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Saturday. With a tight pack throughout the chaotic and fast race, the Jumbos were able to better their seed by one place.
The course at Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne, Wis., had all the features of a very fast course. The ground was flat and solid, making for good footing around the wide turns and open straights. With the best cross country runners in the nation suiting up, the going was hectic for the full 6-kilometer course.
Washington University in St. Louis took the team title, finishing with a dominant score of 70 points. NESCAC rivals Middlebury and Williams were second and third, with 111 and 153 points, respectively. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps finished fourth with 223 points. Rounding out the top five was MIT, another of the New England teams, with 276 points. Amherst took 11th place with 373 points. Tufts was the fifth New England team at the meet, finishing with 497 points.
Chiara Del Piccolo, a sophomore from Williams, won the individual title, running the 6,000-meter course in 20:52.08. She ran away from the pack in the final half-mile of the race, finishing five seconds ahead of the runner-up, senior Christy Cazzola from Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
With two teams in the top three and three in the top five, the New England region showed the nation its strength and depth. The region's talent means that the runners who get to nationals have already faced some of the best women in the country.
Junior tri-captain Lilly Fisher led the way for the Jumbos, placing 123rd overall in 22:27. Sophomore Madeleine Carey was just two seconds behind in 126th place. Sophomore Laura Peterson and senior tri-captain Anya Price were back-to-back in 146th and 147th, both finishing in 22:36. Rounding out the scoring for the squad was sophomore Lauren Creath, who was 158th overall in 22:39.
"Individually, it was a very overwhelming race, so my main focus was going out controlled," Price said. "My first mile was 5:45, pretty similar to Regionals, and then I focused on working off of Lilly and Maddie and keeping them in sight. It was a great team effort, because as packed as it was, the five of us were so close and were able to see and work off of each other during the race."
The final two members of the squad were sophomore Abby Barker and junior Julia Hajnoczky. Barker was 174th with a time of 22:46, while Hajnoczky clocked a time of 23:34, good for 243rd place.
"The course was so flat and open, so it was fast from the beginning," Peterson said. "But I also felt like I could see the six other Tufts runners most of the race because of that, which was really helpful."
"We had a race that was very indicative of our season," Price added. "Our strength has been our pack-running and our depth this year, and our 11 second spread really demonstrated that."
Price, the lone senior in the top seven, finished her cross country career on the biggest stage, something that had eluded the team for her previous three years on the squad. Though the race wasn't her best individual performance, Price appreciated the chance to run in the meet, and was pleased with the success of her teammates.
"Racing at Nationals brought a whole new energy, and we were all very positive and excited going into the race, instead of nervous and stressed," Price said. "That was a very unique aspect to the meet, and if the team comes back next year they'll have the added confidence which will give it even more positive energy."
With six of the top seven returning for next year's campaign, and a strong core right behind them, the future looks bright for coach Kristen Morwick's squad.
"Now that [the team has] the confidence and knowledge that they can make an impression on the New England region, I think it'll definitely be a great season next year of pushing their limits and the pack-running and working together," Price said. "[The team] will definitely only get stronger now that they've accomplished all of this together."
"Going to nationals once has only made us more excited to go back in the next few years," Peterson added. "We now know what it takes to get to Nationals and with a strong returning team, we are excited to see what we can accomplish in the future."
After the most successful season in recent years, most of the Jumbos will relax by taking some well-deserved time off before looking ahead to the indoor track season.
