Jumbos look for podium finish at NESCAC Championship

The U.S No. 11 ranked women's cross country team heads into the NESCAC Championships this weekend ranked third overall in the conference, behind nationally ranked No. 3 Middlebury and No. 7 Williams. At the championship, which takes place at Middlebury this Saturday, the Jumbos will be looking to capitalize on a few weeks of rest for a potential podium finish.

Forecasts for Saturday's championship are calling for temperatures below 40 degrees with the potential for snow, so many of the runners will be exposed to new racing conditions.

The Jumbos will be led by junior co-captain Audrey Gould. Gould, who has a very fast 17:09.07 track 5k PR to her name, has consistently proven to both the conference and the region that she is a heavy favorite not only to win the NESCAC title, but also to be All-New England contender. Gould's junior season has been both dominant and consistent so far. In September, she won the Bowdoin College Invitational 5k, taking the race in a quick early season 18:06.9 time. She later placed third at Williams' Purple Valley Classic on a very difficult course and placed 15th overall at the NEICAAA Cross Country Championshipsin stormy conditions. Most recently, she placed second at the Conn. College Invitational behind Stevenson Institute junior Amy Regan, a multiple-time cross country and track and field All-American.

At NESCAC's, Gould will have to contend with Williams junior Lacey Serletti, who ran 21:55 for 6k at Paul Short, as well as Middlebury's frontrunner, senior Alison Maxwell, who ran three seconds faster than Gould at Open New Englands. They will both be chasing Gould over the hills of Middlebury's Ralph Myre Golf Course this weekend.

Tufts is well represented through runners two, three and four as well. Sophomore Kelly Fahey has emerged as the Jumbos' number two runner this season.Fahey, who has an 18:18.20 track 5k PR to her name, has consistently improved over the fall, running a solid 18:41.3 5k at Bowdoin and a 22:16.0 6k (18:33 5k pace) at the Conn. College Invitational for fifth overall.

Junior Olivia Beltrani, a veteran of Tufts' top seven, has also put up a solid season, placing ninth overall at Conn. College with a 22:41.0 time over the 6k course. Fahey and Beltrani work together well in races to make passes on other runners, especially on the downhills.

Sophomore Alice Wasserman has cemented herself into the number four position, running a 18:56.58 5k at Open New England's. Wasserman, like the rest of the Jumbos, has shown drastic improvement this season. Expect her to run closely to Fahey and Beltrani for the majority of the race and use them to her advantage in making passes of other runners.

But if Tufts is going to pull an upset at the race, other runners will need to step up in the numbers five, six and seven positions. The Jumbos have had some strong runners in these positions all season, but they have yet to have runners who consistently place in these spots for the team. With sophomore Lindsay Atkeson injured, junior Michele de Mars has recently emerged as a solid number five candidate, placing closely behind Wasserman at Open New Englands in a time of 19:04.91. However, the number six and seven positions seem to be wide open at this point. Junior Lily Corcoran recently made a push for the top seven, as she dropped a huge PR at Conn. in running 23:40 for 6k.

At this weekend's championship, the Jumbos will field 12 representatives of their team on the starting line and, if the results so far this season can predict anything, all 12 of these athletes will step up when it matters and make their best attempt to propel the Jumbos to a top finish.

"I strongly believe that no one in our top group has had a race that really demonstrated their full potential this year," Gould said. "If that all comes together and people perform at the level I think they can, then we will definitely surprise some teams, but its going to take our two through five spread to be smaller and farther up."

Over the course of the past few weeks, coach Kristen Morwick's squad has tailored its workouts in preparation for this meet.

"We did a tempo workout last week that we've never done before: a four mile progression run that got 10 seconds faster each mile to theoretically end at our race pace," Gould said. "It was different from what we usually do, and I think it showed us all how important pacing is going to be for the rest of championship season. We recently did an all-out mile at the end of our workout that was an interesting preview for how Saturday could shake out."

A strategy that will likely benefit the Jumbos in the race is their tight pack-running. Over the course of the season, the Jumbos' one-through-five spread has improved signficantly. At Franklin Park, where Open New England's took place, the Jumbos showcased a 1:00 one-through-five spread. However, if the Jumbos are aiming to score some upsets at NESCACs, they will need to tighten up their pack, which, given these runners' talents, is achievable.

"I think the most important thing to do this weekend is to pack our girls together and motivate each other to keep moving up throughout the race," de Mars said.

After NESCACs, the Jumbos will head to the ECAC Div. III Championship meet at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass., as a final tune-up before they return to Williams College for the NCAA Div. III New England Regional Meet, at which they can qualify for the national championship.

"We have a really deep team this year, and we really need everyone to be confident and push themselves so that we will run our best these next few weeks," de Mars said.