The NESCAC Championship marks the beginning of the championship season, not the end - something the women's cross country team is glad to know after their performance on Saturday fell short of expectations. Although there were bright spots, the squad's fourth-place tie with Bates was not what Tufts was hoping for.
"I know that if we race at our best, we can give Middlebury and Williams a run for their money," freshman Audrey Gould said. "Unfortunately, we didn't have it in us on Saturday, and I don't think our finish really represented the level of talent we have on our team this year."
Williams (45), Middlebury (71) and Amherst (107) easily out-paced Tufts' 138 points - a tie with Bates, a team that Tufts beat handily earlier this season.
Individually, Kerri Lambert, a senior from Amherst, ran to individual victory in a time of 20:33 over the six-kilometer course - easily the best time of the day in the field of 127.
Gould's performance was the highlight of the meet for Tufts. In the first championship race of her career, she ran aggressively to place seventh overall in a time of 22:02. With that finish, she earned First-Team All-NESCAC distinction.
"I knew in this race I would have to go out hard and get in position if I wanted to finish in a top spot," Gould said. "I ended up going out hard and then falling off the pack a little, but I'm still glad that I put myself out there right from the gun because it helped me get my head in the race."
Another rookie turned in a stellar performance for the Jumbos, as freshman Olivia Beltrani was the next team member to finish. She placed 30th overall with a time of 22:37. One second behind her in 31st was junior Abby Barker.
Closing the scoring for the Jumbos were junior Laura Peterson and junior tri-captain Madeleine Carey. Peterson placed 38th with a time of 22:42, while Carey clocked in with 22:56 for 43rd.
Right behind her came junior Lauren Creath, while sophomore Meghan Gillis broke into the Tufts top seven for the first time in her young career.
Although the talent displayed by the underclassmen was promising for the team on Saturday, several members of the squad didn't live up to personal expectations.
"I didn't execute my race plan, and I didn't finish where I wanted to," Peterson said. "There's nothing I can do to change the results, though, so I'm focusing on taking away a few lessons from the race this weekend and being better prepared for Regionals."
Peterson and her teammates have had stellar seasons overall thus far, so there is plenty of reason to believe the squad can rebound in the coming weeks. But some adjustments need to be made if the team wants to reach its potential this postseason.
"We just need to race tougher from the get-go and make sure we're working together and pushing each other throughout the entire race," Gould said. "It was a mental game for us this weekend, and if we can use it as a lesson to get a little fiery for Regionals, I think we'll perform to our full potential."
Confidence and teamwork will certainly go a long way toward helping the team improve its performance.
"We need to execute our race plan better at Regionals," Peterson said. "We know we are capable of running with the top pack, but we need to work on believing in ourselves and having the confidence and courage to put ourselves in position to make it happen."
The top seven runners on the team will have this weekend off to rest and refocus before the NCAA Regional on Nov. 10, while the second seven will head west to Williams to compete in the ECAC Championship on Saturday.
In the postseason, every race is a battle. All runners need to step up and fight for every last spot in order for the team to be successful, especially at Regionals, where teams and individuals are vying for a trip to the NCAA Championship.
"[At Regionals] I want to be very focused on passing girls throughout the entire race," Gould said, "because in these big meets, every point is going to count."
