The women's cross country team continued its string of strong performances this season, coming in third out of 16 teams at the 41st annual Codfish Bowl in Franklin Park in Boston on Saturday. While originally scheduled to take part in the Conn. College Invitational, the Jumbos had to make last-minute changes on Friday afternoon after the race hosted by the Camels was cancelled due to heavy rain.
Despite the late addition to the Codfish Bowl, Tufts' 91-point total was behind only that of the Greater Boston Track Club (TC), which won with 21 points, and Adelphi, which finished second with 67 points. In four races this year, the Jumbos have tallied two first-place and two third-place finishes.
"We were just happy to run a race," coach Kristen Morwick said. "I don't think [the Codfish Bowl] held any more significance than that. We didn't want to go two weeks without a race before going into All-New Englands [on Oct.11th]."
Sophomore Steph McNamara continued her standout year for Tufts, finishing third out of the field of 151 competitors. Of the three races in which she has taken part this year, the Codfish Bowl actually marked her worst finish, as she has taken first in the other two competitions. At the Trinity Invitational, McNamara topped the field of 175 and came in 21 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. The next week at the Tufts Invitational she did even better, beating the closest competitor by 25 seconds.
"Even though Stephanie's a sophomore, she's our front runner," senior tri-captain Susan Allegretti said. "She's a leader by default. She leads by example and her work ethic sets the tone for the rest of the team. She's had so much success, and she continues to get better; we're so proud of her."
At the Codfish Bowl, McNamara's time of 18:27 was less than 20 ticks behind the top two finishers from Greater Boston TC: Sarah Donahue at 18:15 and Emily Kroshus at 18:11. Greater Boston TC placed four runners in the top six spots.
"Greater Boston has a lot of former Div. I athletes who live around the area and want to continue running, so those kids are generally really good," Morwick said. "[McNamara] hung with the leaders; they just pulled away the last 600, 800 meters. It was good for her to match up against people with more racing experience and see what she could do. They took it out really hard; it was too fast a pace to start, I think, but she did well under the circumstances. I think she knows what not to do for next time."
Sophomore Amy Wilfert also had a strong day for the Jumbos, coming in 11th place with a time of 19:11. Freshman Anya Price came in third for Tufts and 26th overall, while senior Amy Hopkins and Allegretti finished 31st and 32nd, respectively.
"There was a big gap between our top two and the rest of the team and that really has to tighten up if we're going to be successful the rest of the season," Morwick said. "The pack was almost a minute and a half behind our second runner, which isn't good, especially on a fast 5k course. It'll only get worse on a longer course."
"We have a very young team, which is not a bad thing at all, but it's certainly something you have to work with," Allegretti added. "It's important to set a good example and encourage them to stay with certain people. It's just really encouraging in a race when you see all your teammates running around you. I can't really explain; it's an amazing feeling to have."
After taking next weekend off from competition, the Jumbos will move on to the All New England Championship, which is also being held at Franklin Park in Boston. Last year, the team finished 14th out of 44 teams at the race.
"We haven't had to put much pressure in years past, but the criteria for Nationals has changed, so this will be one of the meets they look at for an at-large bid if we don't finish in the top two at Regionals," Morwick said. "How we do in this meet will affect how the committee selects who goes to Nationals. It's important, and it's tough because it's early to try to race hard. I'm glad the whole team got to see the course this week; that will be really helpful."
"This race will show us where we are against some of the best teams in Div. III and Div. I, plus it may count towards our Nationals bid," Allegretti added. "It's been so close before that it could be the difference."
