The men's cross country team enters the 2014 season in pursuit of its fourth straight trip to the NCAA Championship meet. If all goes according to plan, the Jumbo runners will send a squad to Mason, Ohio on Nov. 24 to once again stake Tufts' claim as a competitive cross country program on the national level.
But the team has a long way to go and a long season to navigate before it can realize this goal. Last fall the team placed 17th out of 32 teams at Nationals, scoring 446 points. It was the third time in as many years that the Jumbos ran their way to Nationals, and they hope to continue their streak this fall. However, it may not be as easy as it has been in the past.
"After three straight years of competing at Nationals, we have a team that should again contend for a berth to the NCAA championships, but this will perhaps be the toughest year for us to qualify of the past four," assistant coach Mike Schmidt said. "We have a smaller and slightly less experienced squad than last year in cross country terms, and we graduated four of our top seven runners."
The three remaining runners from last season's top seven are sophomore Tim Nichols, senior Nicholas Guarnaccia, and sophomore Luke O'Connor. The trio will lead the team this year, and the Jumbos' success will depend heavily on how well these three runners are able to perform.
While the NCAA Championship meet is the ultimate goal for the team, its toughest competition may lie within the NESCAC. Last year, rival Williams placed fifth at Nationals with a score of 218 points and Middlebury placed seventh with 297 points. Preseason polls indicate a continued dominance by these NESCAC teams, so an improvement on last year's third place finish at the NESCAC Championship may be unlikely.
"Historically, Williams is the best, and that's no different this year," senior co-captain Marshall Pagano said. "Preseason polls don't mean that much, but they're ranked 3rd overall in the nation and that's pretty good. They're definitely the team to beat."
In the NCAA preseason poll, Tufts ranks 27th in the nation. However, Schmidt and Pagano are both confident that the team has the work ethic and talent necessary to surpass this ranking, a feat that the Jumbos pulled off last year. After starting the season ranked behind division rivals Bowdoin and Bates, Tufts finished well ahead of the two squads at the NCAA Championships.
"Staying healthy and keeping a long-term focus are essential to our success this year," Schmidt said. "If guys keep doing what they're doing and take things one week and one race at a time, I believe they'll be in a great spot come our championship season."
The senior class, with nine runners, is the largest on the team. While Pagano hopes that this veteran leadership will help the team gel, improve and succeed throughout the season, he is also looking forward to seeing the success of the squad's younger members.
"I wouldn't be surprised if one or two freshman really click and make some noise down the road," Schmidt said.
The Jumbos travel to Maine this Saturday for their first scored meet of the season, the Bowdoin Invitational. The meet will be more of a tune-up for the squad and a good way to gauge fitness levels and areas of weakness that can be improved as the season goes along.
