Women's cross country takes 6th at NEICAAA Championship

The Tufts women’s cross country team competed at the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association (NEICAAA) Championship  Saturday at Franklin Park in Boston. The race featured teams from all NCAA divisions. Despite facing Div. II and Div. I competition, the Jumbos finished sixth out of the 22 teams competing at the race, and two Jumbos finished within the top 10.

Senior Sabrina Gornisiewicz led the pack of Jumbos in the 5k race, finishing sixth out of 155 competitors. She ran a time of 17:55.1, the best time out of the Div. III athletes.

Interestingly, this is Gornisiewicz’s first season as a varsity cross country athlete. She initially came to Tufts as a member of the swim team, but she made the switch to cross country for her senior year and is now dominating the competition. Gornisiewicz was very pleased with her performance.

“To be sixth at [the NEICAAA] is rad, and I am beyond honored to be named top performer from Tufts,” Gornisiewicz said. “I honestly have very little experience in competing in running, and so every practice and meet I find myself learning something new. [The NEICAAA] Championships was by far the most exhaustive competition I’ve had so far. This was surprising to me because our last meet was known to be a challenging course, the Purple Valley Classic, we raced a 6k and I ran with one shoe. However, this meet felt a lot more mentally challenging, despite it being a 5k and relatively flat with a few rolling hills."

Gornisiewicz continued, stressing the high competition she faced from other Div. I schools across New England like Yale University, Dartmouth College and University of Massachusetts Amherst.

"I’ve never experienced pack racing and found myself taking the first mile of the race out extremely fast in order to not get boxed out," Gornisiewicz said. "I still have a lot to learn about strategic racing. At this meet, given any point in this race, you could have been third or 20th, so it was definitely tough."

Directly behind Gornisiewicz was sophomore Danielle Page, who finished seventh overall with a time of 17:55.2.Both Gornisiewicz and Page’s hard-earned finishes were important results for Tufts because they helped contribute toward the team score.

Sophomore Anna Slager finished in 34th with a time of 18:43.7, the third-best time for Tufts.Behind Slager came senior co-captain Rhemi Toth, who finished in 53rd with a time of 19:08.0 and junior Cameron Rusin who finished 84th with a time of 19:42.9. These five times were the times included in team scoring. Also in contention for Tufts was junior Johanna Ross, who finished in 98th with a time of 19:57.7 and senior co-captain Nicole Kerrigan who finished 106th with a time of 20:06.0.

In total, Tufts earned 176 team points to finish sixth at the race, continuing its season-long run of good form. University of New Hampshire won the NEICAAA Championship with a team score of 63.

Gornisiewicz thinks that the team's positive energy is what is helping them achieve such good results this season.

“There is something really special when you know your teammates are choosing to be there and to push themselves, and that just facilitates a healthier and more energetic environment,” Gornisiewicz said. “When you know your teammate is going the extra mile to give it their best, you push yourself further. I’m not sure what the culture was like in the past years, but to me personally, practices, meets and expectations feel light and fun. I’m not sure if I can speak on behalf of the team, but I’m having fun and getting a good workout in [at] the same time so I can’t complain."

Gornisiewicz also took the time to acknowledge her coaches.

"We also have great coaches. Coach Kristen [Morwick] keeps energy and tempo high at practice and she even brings her dogs. However, I think they’re meant to prepare us for unexpected hurdles," Gornisiewicz said. "We also have [assistant] coach Sean [MacDonald], who just graduated from Bowdoin last year. He’s able to offer us strategic insights on courses, competition and just running overall.”

Coach Morwick echoed Gornisiewicz’s sentiments.

“[I’m] very pleased with the team and how things are going so far,” Morwick said. “The vibe on the team has been really positive, and its been great to have a bunch of new faces join us.”

The Jumbos are back in action on Oct. 19 at the Conn. College Invitational held at Harkness Park in Waterford, Conn.