Six All-American titles. Four school records. Nine races at the national scene. Many more NCAA qualifying marks. Twelve seasons of success. That's the résumé of one athlete who has forever left his mark on the Tufts running program.
Beginning on Thursday, graduating senior Jesse Faller of the men's track and field team will suit up for the Jumbos one final time when he participates in the NCAA Championships in Berea, Ohio. Considered by coach Ethan Barron to be one of the most decorated and consistent distance runners that Tufts has ever seen, Faller didn't initially have many plans to make running a big part of his college experience.
But once he decided to join Barron's cross country and track squads, he made an immediate impact, setting the stage for a storied four-year career.
"We were really excited about Jesse when he came in," Barron said. "We knew he had the capability to be a top seven [cross country] runner as a freshman, but he definitely over-exceeded expectations with what he did on the track. I did not see him [attaining a personal record (PR)] by almost 30 seconds in the mile as a freshman, so that was a nice surprise."
That spring on the outdoor track, Faller gave his coaches and teammates a glimpse of his true potential at the NESCAC Championships. Going into the distance medley relay (DMR), Tufts needed a third-place finish in the race to tie Williams for the NESCAC title. After already scoring in the 1,500-meter race that day, Faller returned to anchor the DMR, running the mile leg.
Heading into the final straightaway, Faller was neck-and-neck with his counterpart from Middlebury for third place. By a mere 11 hundredths of a second, Faller pulled away, securing Tufts' first conference crown since 1991.
"Even though that wasn't a really fast time or a really impressive race, it was so memorable and so dramatic and significant," Faller said. "It really made me feel that I can really be a clutch runner and that I can have a big impact on my team."
"There aren't too many more [higher-pressure] situations than anchoring the last relay of the meet with a NESCAC title on the line, and we gave the baton to a freshman, and he brought it home," said graduating senior quad-captain Nick Welch, who has run alongside Faller since freshman year. "That was when, in my mind, the Jesse Faller I know today was born."
Toward superstardom
If any doubts remained about Faller's talent or potential at the end of his freshman year, Faller smashed them with an outstanding cross country season the following fall.
After performing strongly all season and finishing among Tufts' top three in every race, Faller established himself as a force to be reckoned with among New England runners by taking third at the Div. III New England Championship, 63 places ahead of his finish the year before.
"Everybody noticed [his talent] by Regionals when we were sophomores," Welch said. "He was third, and at that point he had had a string of great races that could have potentially been sort of flukes, but then Regionals got rid of any doubt that could have been in anybody's mind that Jesse was legit."
Faller's performance led the Jumbos to a third-place finish in New England and a bid to NCAAs, where the team took 26th. Tufts was again led by an excellent performance from the sophomore breakout star Faller, who finished 18th to earn his first All-American honor.
Along with his freshman-year performance in track, these two races stand out as key moments in Faller's mind when he began to realize his immense talent.
"I really just wasn't expecting to finish that high [at Div. III New Englands], and I don't even know how I did it," Faller said. "But I think from that race on I kind of established the fact that I was one of the best runners in New England, and once you finish that high in a race, you have the confidence to say, ‘Whatever race I'm going into, I should be finishing very close to the front, if not winning.'"
Among the nation's best
Faller only found more success in his next two years of cross country. As a junior, he took second at the New England meet and 35th at nationals to earn a second All-American title. As a senior, he claimed fourth in the New England region and ran to his third All-American honor with his highest finish at NCAAs in eighth place. The finish was also the highest by any Tufts runner since 1997.
"Jesse has over his last four years gained a lot of confidence in himself as a runner, but more, I feel as though he's starting to see himself the way all his teammates and coaches have seen himself over his career," Barron said. "He's incredibly humble, but he now truly understands his ability to succeed at the national level. "
Last year, Faller anchored the DMR as it claimed a third-place finish on the national scene and then returned the next day to take fourth in the 5,000-meter run — both finishes worthy of All-American status. Outdoors, Faller again ran the 5K at NCAAs, finishing in 11th.
He repeated the DMR-5K double at the indoor NCAA meet during his senior year, anchoring the school-record holding DMR that took ninth and earning a third-place finish in the 5K, his highest finish at the national level.
"Some of the anchor legs that he ran on our DMR last year [are among his biggest accomplishments]," Welch said. "Those definitely would be up there, because those were the situations where our entire team, 65 guys, were watching him, relying on him, and he carried them to third place in the nation."
Leaving his mark
Faller's contributions to the men's running program included more than accolades and top-flight finishes. His success made him one of the squad's best leaders, someone who typically led by example.
"Definitely one of his biggest assets and one of the biggest contributions he's made to the program is his ability to get the whole team fired up when he races," Welch said. "There's a limit to how much a coach or a captain or anyone can say with words to motivate a team, but Jesse's performances on the track sort of inspire and excite the guys on this team more than anything else I can think of."
Another aspect of Faller's legacy is his unquestionable passion for his sport.
"Jesse has very unique motivations for running and training," Barron said. "Most athletes train to get faster — they race for better PRs. Jesse really trains and races for the experience and for being a part of the team, and ironically, Jesse doesn't race to set school records and he doesn't train to be an All-American. It just kind of happens that way."
"I love the thrill of the competition, both the individual aspect of racing and competing man to man and also the team aspect of competing for your team and trying to win a championship," Faller said. "I think competition is really the energy of the sport.
"But atop of that, running can't just be driven by competition," he continued. "It has to be deeper than that; it has to be more of a passion. I love the sport, I love the training, I love pushing myself and reaching new heights and I love being on the team … It's just something that runners have. They just have this passion to run that most people don't understand."
With Faller's graduation, the program is losing not just its top runner, but also a true team player who could always be relied on to rise to the occasion.
"It's a big ease and confidence booster to know that you have an athlete like Jesse beside you on the line, so that will definitely be a huge loss to the team," Barron said.
"It's hard to overstate the hole that he's left behind, a many, many time All-American," Welch added.
What comes next?
Faller, graduating today with a degree in mechanical engineering, is searching the job market. When it comes to running, he is ready for a rest.
"I do plan on running [after graduation,] but I haven't decided at what level I want to run at," Faller said. "But at least right after school, I don't plan on training and competing at as high of a level as I am competing at right now. I think I am ready for a mental and physical break."
But who knows what is in store for Faller when he hits the track again one day?
"Jesse is one of the first athletes I've worked with where I honestly don't know what his ceiling is: Sub-four minutes in the mile, sub-14 minutes in the 5K — he could probably do all that," Barron said.
"If he were to ever go on, I think he has yet to even scratch the surface of his potential," Welch added. "If he wants to do it and if he continued being smart about his training, it's hard to image what the end to his potential would be."
Faller will surely remain in Tufts history as one of the most decorated distance runners to go through the program, and running has equally shaped Faller, forming his college experience and the way he looks at life.
"I see a lot of things through the lines of running," Faller said. "Running has helped develop my perseverance, it's helped develop my passion and motivation, and it's just helped to develop my character because a lot of what running is is just overcoming adversity in a race or in training … More specifically, I think it makes me a more disciplined person. It's an outlet away from my schoolwork and it keeps me sane."
Tufts' running program and Faller may be preparing to part ways, but running will always remain in his life because, as is true for many runners, it is not simply a sport, but a way of life.
