Jesse Faller, Men's Cross Country - Faller was the cream of the crop at the Conn. College Invitational on Saturday, finishing first out of 214 runners. Faller's time of 25:17 for the 8K race was three seconds faster than Div. II Southern Connecticut's Joseph Poulsen's and led the Jumbos to a first-place finish at the meet. The win was the second of Faller's career, with the first coming in the Codfish Bowl on the same weekend a year ago.
The Jumbo senior, a two time All-American, led a Tufts' assault on the leaderboard. With three runners scoring in the top 10, Tufts totaled 48 points to out-distance second-place Bowdoin College (64).
Faller benefitted from a combination of ideal weather conditions and top-level regional competition. A member of the Track & Field team as well, the senior finished 35th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships last year and 18th in 2007.
Brogie Helgeson, Women's Volleyball - During this past weekend's MIT Invitational, the 11-1 (2-0 NESCAC) women's volleyball team routed its opponents to take its second consecutive tournament win. But it was senior co-captain Brogie Helgeson's offensive effort that proved to be the nail in the coffin for the competition.
Helgeson, who has tallied 106 kills so far this season, was named the tournament MVP for her offensive might versus Conn. College and Williams, in which she averaged over 10 kills per game. Dropping their first set 19-25 against the Camels, the Jumbos unleashed their adrenaline to take the next three sets by at least two points. Helgeson racked up 15 kills with just two errors on 40 attempts, a tournament-high in kills during the four-set victory.
In the weekend's championship match against Williams, Tufts downed its opponent handily in three sets. Helgeson helped set the tone by tying for the team lead with 10 kills, aiding her case for the MVP honor.
