Women's Cross Country | Tufts runners finish third at ECACs

The women’s cross country team placed third out of 47 teams at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship (ECAC) meet on Saturday in Bristol, R.I. The team’s score of 111 points was bested only by NESCAC rivals Middlebury and Williams.

With teams resting their top seven runners for the NCAA Regional Championship meet next week, the meet was a chance for teams to showcase their depth by competing with runners eight through 14.

“It’s a good chance for the second seven to work on racing because other teams race their second seven, too,” senior Grace House said. “Our goal was to finish second or third. We wanted to stick with the Middlebury pack and the Williams girls.”

Freshman Alice Wasserman finished first for the Jumbos, placing 11th overall with a time of 23:03.

“I am extremely happy with my race,” Wasserman said. “I took a pretty hard fall towards the middle of the third mile, but my teammates helped push me to come back, and I ultimately had a great finish. ECAC definitely gave me much more confidence as a racer.”

Not far behind Wasserman were House and junior Caroline Kimball-Katz. House placed 14th with a time of 23:06, and Kimball-Katz placed finished 15th at 23:12.

Next to cross the line for Tufts was sophomore Alexandra Kiesling, placing 34th with a time of 23:49. Sophomore Katie Kurtz finished in 37th at 23:59; freshman Samantha Cox clocked in at 24 minutes flat, good for 39th; and junior Meg Gills placed 61st, finishing in 24:39.

The course, located at Colt State Park, is designed so that almost two-thirds consists of trails through the woods. Both House and Wasserman noted that the difficulty of the course affected their racing strategy.

“[The course] was easy in the sense that it was fairly flat, but most of the course was too loose in the woods,” House said. “There were really narrow trails, so it was important to get out fast and keep your position in the woods, and then try to move up in the few open sections.”

Natural obstacles also presented problems, causing Wasserman’s slip during the third mile.

“It was hard to pass other runners and keep a quick pace,” Wasserman said. “There were lots of hidden tree roots and rocks that made the footing extra difficult.”

With its third-place finish, Tufts showcased its depth beyond the top seven.

“Without the top seven running, it put a lot more pressure on us to carry the team’s position, since our places were the ones scored,” Wasserman said. “It was a little disappointing to not have them run with us and push us, but ultimately we did like the challenge of having to step up.”

Tufts’ performance offered a clear statement to its opponents.

“The team’s goal for the meet was to show how deep of a team we are and that we have strong runners, not just at the top of our team,” Wasserman said. “We wanted to show New England that TUXC is a tough team all the way through and use ECAC to boost our confidence heading into the Regionals meet.”

At the same time, the dominance of the NESCAC was on display. In a field of 47 teams from throughout the East Coast, NESCAC teams swept the top four spots and comprised eight of the top 10.

The NESCAC teams — including the Jumbos — will be a force to be reckoned with at the NCAA Regional Championship meet on Saturday in Gorham, Maine.

“Our goal for Regionals is to finish fourth or better and qualify for Nationals,” senior tri-captain Abby Barker said. “If we want to be competitive at a national level, we need to push ourselves to close the gap between Middlebury, Williams and MIT, so we will be prepared for the level of competition that we’ll face [Nov. 23] at NCAAs.”