It certainly won't be easy for the track teams to recover from this year's graduation.
Both teams will have big shoes to fill next year, as they mourn the departure of two stars on and off the field: senior tri-captains Sarah Crispin and Fred Jones.
Crispin has been a valuable member of coach Kristen Morwick's squad for her entire collegiate career, heading to Nationals multiple times in both cross country and track. As a captain in both sports this year, Crispin has stepped up into the leadership role.
"She's been a three-season captain this year and probably one of the best we've ever had," Morwick said. "She's a hard worker, and people really respect her. She's extremely nice, and she does a lot to inspire her teammates. They look at her and think, 'that's what I want to be.'"
"It's a very long year to be captain the whole time," junior Cat Beck said. "I think it's really meant a lot to people to be given the opportunity to see someone who is older in the leadership position who really does the sport because she cares about it. Her motivation for training and competing every weekend is a very positive one, and it's just a great example for all of the underclassmen."
In addition to setting an example for her teammates, Crispin has had much individual success over her four years at Tufts. As a sophomore at indoor Nationals in 2005, Crispin ran the Jumbos' only open event, finishing eighth after receiving a 12th seed in the 800-meter run with a clip of 2:21.39. The finish scored one point for Tufts and garnered Crispin her first All-American honor.
She returned to the national stage the following two seasons as part of Tufts' distance medley relay teams. 2006 saw a 10th-place finish for the Jumbo foursome of Crispin, then-sophomores Beck and Katy O'Brien and then-freshman Aubrey Wasser, running a 12:29.95 time.
Crispin only improved in 2007, as along with Beck, O'Brien and junior Kaleigh Fitzpatrick, she clocked a finish of 11:35.54. The Jumbos were edged by Wisconsin-Platteville for the national title, which finished in 11:34.46. Crispin helped to break both the school and meet records in the event en route to earning her second set of All-American accolades.
In cross country, Crispin saw national competition in both 2005 and 2006, finishing the NCAA Div. III National Championship race in 25:31.2 and 26:52, respectively.
Crispin has made several marks on the record books, currently holding titles in the 1,000-meter indoor and the 4x800-meter relay both indoor and outdoor in addition to the indoor DMR record set at Nationals. The outdoor 4x8 record was set at this season's All New England Championships, where Crispin ran the fastest split with a mark of 2:15. The meet also saw her automatically qualify for Nationals in the 1,500-meter run after bouncing back from injuries sustained indoors.
"She took almost seven weeks off from running, and to just three weeks later automatically qualify, that's just unbelievable," Morwick said. "Her desire and work ethic have taken her a long way. She put in more hours this spring in the pool, on the bike, and in the weight room because she just really wanted to end senior year and go to outdoor Nationals, and it's going to happen now. I give her a lot of credit."
Jones has meant just as much to coach Ethan Barron's squad throughout his tenure as part of the men's track and field team. With his exemplary work ethic and ability to perform under pressure, Jones has competed at Nationals seven-consecutive times, bringing home All-American honors each time, including double All-American honors in the 2005 and 2007 indoor seasons.
"It's pretty easy to put it up in numbers," Barron said. "He's a nine-time All-American, he's a national champion, he's helped lead the team to a NESCAC title. One of the biggest legacies he'll leave behind is a work ethic and fight in a lot of guys that he brought on as a role model and a leader over the last four years."
"In terms of honors for track and field, he's the most decorated athlete the school has ever had," senior tri-captain Dave McCleary said. "He's been a really hard worker and a leader from freshman year on. Everyone looked to him because he was so good and worked so hard. He's just a very mature guy. Older guys looked up to him even though he was younger."
Jones set the bar high in his freshman year, finishing sixth in the triple jump at the NCAA Div. III Championships with a leap of 47-4 1/2 indoors and improving to third place in the spring with a 48-11 mark. The 2005 indoor season saw Jones capture second place in the long jump en route to a new school record of 23-9 indoors before moving outdoors to take second in the triple jump and seventh in the long jump. After last year's championships, in which Jones went fourth in the long jump, Jones was crowned national champion in the triple jump with a school record-breaking 49-7.
Jones' showing this winter was just as impressive, as he was runner-up in both the long and triple jumps at the 2007 NCAA Div. III Indoor Championships. With leaps of 23-11 3/4 in the long jump and 48-8 3/4 in the triple jump, Jones broke his own school records and single-handedly scored 16 points to put Tufts in a three-way tie for seventh place overall.
Despite his immense individual success, Jones has put an immeasurable amount of time and effort towards helping his team.
"I definitely think that with leadership as a captain, you have to just lead by example," Jones said. "I tried to go into this year and be the best teammate possible and just to stay positive and realize that even though track is very big, to be successful you have to care about your teammates more than what they do during their competitions."
Although Jones' impact will continue to help the team in his absence next year, he will be sorely missed by his coach and teammates.
"They're definitely big shoes to fill for the younger guys," McCleary said. "It's tough to replace him with any one person in terms of his leadership qualities and his athleticism and how he inspired people."
