With some of the top women's cross country runners sitting out for the weekend, including sophomore Stephanie McNamara, who has led the team to two first-place team finishes behind consecutive individual wins, some of the team's newest members had the opportunity to shine in Saturday's UMass Dartmouth Shriners Invitational sub-varsity race, helping Tufts to a third place finish in an 18-team field.
Tufts was led by junior veteran Lisa Picascia, who nailed down seventh place overall with a 19:30 clip on the 5,000-meter course. Freshmen Kelsey Barton and Bryn Kass were not far behind, taking second and third for the Jumbos and 12th and 15th overall with respective marks of 19:43 and 19:51. Sophomore Elana Davidowitz (20:20) and senior Amy Hopkins (20:50) rounded out the scoring for the Jumbos, who tallied 80 total points on the day. MIT took the overall meet with 35 points, followed by runner-up Amherst who tallied 50.
But while the Jumbos may have had success individually, Saturday's race in particular was dedicated to teamwork. Coach Kristen Morwick held her runners from the varsity race, putting everyone together to concentrate on pack running.
"The focus of this weekend's race was really about kind of sticking with each other and working as a team," Kass said. "It's really important in a cross country race … for the runners who are a little further behind to be able to catch up with their teammates and be able to work together. Even though it's an individual sport, we all entered the race to encourage us to run together instead of running as individual varsity runners."
Racing without their frontrunners provided an additional challenge for the Jumbos, who were forced to regulate their paces without their customary points of reference.
"Our top [runners] did not run, which made things a little bit harder, but it was kind of a good building exercise for us," Davidowitz said. "It's harder to pace yourself when you don't have your usual teammates in front of you."
The race was particularly valuable for the Tufts freshmen, who comprise nearly half the team this season, as they continue the transition between high school and college racing.
"They're doing a really good job," Davidowitz said. "They're having a lot of fun, and that's the most important thing. They have a good, laid-back attitude, and they seem like they're just open to the fact that it's a different experience than high school running. "It's a lot of trial and error; some of them are trying out and readjusting," she continued. "The mileage is usually a big challenge — it's just a lot higher than high school mileage — but they've definitely done a good job."
"As far as running goes, it's really an adjustment," Kass added. "There are a lot of people who were [No. 1 and No. 2] runners in high school who all come together at the collegiate level. It's definitely a reality check and a humbling experience. It challenges us not so much to be the best but to do our best in each race."
The Jumbos will look to put the pack-running strategy to use once again at this weekend's Conn. College Invitational. And with everyone back in action, the team is confident that it can do just that.
"We rested a lot of girls [at UMass-Dartmouth]," senior tri-captain Betsy Aronson said. "People had raced a few weeks in a row, and the hills were tough on people. But everyone will be running [at Conn. College], and we're all in the same race, so we have a lot of opportunity to run as a team and have a lot of Jumbo uniforms out there. We're hoping it should be even better in terms of running as a pack."
The Conn. College Invitational will also be a test of the team's stamina, as the course will be the team's first 6,000-meter course of the season, its longest test to date — and, for many of the freshmen, the longest of their cross country careers.
"I think the big challenge for a lot of the freshmen is that it's going to be the first 6k they've run before," Aronson said. "It's not too different; it's still on grass, it's still cross country, but adding a thousand meters is a big mental challenge because it feels far."
Luckily for the Jumbos, they will be running Conn. College's flat, fast course, providing a welcome break from the hills the team scaled at Trinity and at home on the Tufts Farm Course in Grafton. As they tackle the standard championship course length, they will get a sense of where they are time-wise.
"The splits are going to be a little different, and it's kind of an extra push," Kass said. "I think it will be a good thing to start out in a race like next week to see where we're at and what times we're shooting for because you never really know until you race."
