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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Tough day leads to fifth place finish at NESCACs

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Olivia Beltrani sprints to the finish at the NESCAC Championship meet at Middlebury College on Nov. 1, 2014.

The women's cross country team went into Saturday's NESCAC Championship at Middlebury College ranked 11th nationally and third in the NESCAC, behind only two formidable squads in Middlebury (U.S No. 3) and Williams (U.S No. 7). However, the Tufts team did not look like the powerhouse it has been all season, stumbling out of the gates and finishing fifth with 126 points, behind winners Middlebury (38 points), runners-up Williams (47 points), U.S No. 21 Amherst (108 points) and unranked Colby College (121 points).

Conditions were cold and windy at the very tough and hilly course, so fast times weren't expected. Up front, junior co-captain Audrey Gould battled with Middlebury senior tri-captains Alison Maxwell and Summer Spillane. In the end, Maxwell eventually pulled away for the individual NESCAC title, winning by over 15 seconds on the six kilometer course in 22:16.8. Spillane was second with a time of 22:33.0, just surpassing Gould at the line, who placed third in 22:33.6.Junior Olivia Beltrani was a minute behind Gould, placing 26th overall in 23:37.7. Sophomore Alice Wasserman finished just under the 24 minute mark in 23:58.2, taking 35th overall. First-year Sara Stokesbury made her debut in the varsity squad by placing fourth for the Jumbos, running a PR 24:00.2. Sophomore Kelly Fahey rounded out the scoring for the Jumbos, placing 41st overall with a time of 24:14.9, while sophomore Sam Cox was right behind her, placing 42nd in 24:15.3.

The Jumbos' pack racing strategy did not fare well in the race, as more than a minute separated their first and second runners. This season the Jumbos have averaged just over a one minute split between their one and five runners. In the Open New England XC Championships three weeks ago at Franklin Park, the Jumbos kept their one through five split to an even minute in the 5k race.

"It was definitely one of our most challenging races by far, which was mostly a result of weather conditions we had never seen before as well as some tough hills," senior Meghan Gillis, who placed seventh for the Jumbos in a time of 24:27.8, said. "We know this is a team that can do much better than fifth place."

Although the results were not as the Jumbos had hoped, Stokesbury's race was a bright spot.

"My experience was awesome," Stokesbury said. "I felt great when I was running, and definitely had my best race of the season. In high school my state meet was extremely hilly, so this course was manageable for me."

As for strategy, Stokesbury explained that she didn't have much of a plan for the meet.

"Going into the meet, I didn't really have a strategy," Stokesbury said. "I was so excited to have the opportunity to run that I just wanted to go out and push myself throughout the entire race and to try to use the tough course to my advantage."

Although the Jumbos did not fare well in the competition, Stokesbury still said they handled it as best as they could.

"Going into the race, we knew that we needed contributions from everyone on the team, and we got just that," Stokesbury said.

The Jumbos have their sights set on the ECAC meet next weekend at Westfield State and the NCAA Div. III New England Regional meet in two weeks at Williams. If the Jumbos want to qualify for Nationals, they will need to make sure they run well in the next few weeks. However, this is a squad that has already proven to the nation that it deserves to be placed among the best, and has proven that it is capable of responding well to adversity.

"The plan is to regroup, focus on what every individual needs and go into this weekend with a solid plan of how we are going to perform," Gillis said. "I think in the next couple of weeks we're going to see a lot of breakout races in wake of a disappointing NESCAC finish, and we will be ready to prove that we are better than fifth at ECACs and Regionals."