While the top runners of the women's cross country team rested in preparation for the NESCAC Championships this weekend, the rest of the team traveled to Franklin Park in Boston to run in the Mayor's Cup 5k. With a few spots still available on the Jumbos' NESCAC squad, more was at stake than just the team result for the runners.
The Jumbos as a team finished ninth out of 10 with 357 points. The bulk of the teams were post−graduate running clubs, such as New Balance Boston, which finished first in impressive form with 28 points. Boston Athletic Club and New York Athletic Club finished second and third, with 55 and 91 points, respectively. Individually for Tufts, freshman Jana Hieber finished first for the Jumbos in 19:56, good enough for 74th overall. Classmate Madeleine Carey was next in 77th in 20:19, while junior Bryn Kass followed by just two seconds. Rounding out the scoring for Tufts were junior Caroline Melhado and senior tri−captain Jen Yih, in 20:35 (85th) and 20:37 (87th), respectively.
With all of the talented post−collegiate runners in the field, there was a very fast pace for the first mile. According to the Jumbos, starting so quickly makes it more difficult to maintain such a speedy rate for the duration of the race.
"I remember passing coach [Kristen] Morwick at the mile mark and seeing the clock at 5:45," Hieber said. "I don't think I've ever gone out that fast in a race before."
Even though the race had to slow down after it, the fast first mile actually helped some runners to post personal bests.
"I had a goal to not only beat my time from the last race here, but my best time from high school as well," Hieber said. "Twenty minutes was also on my mind. I knocked out all three and I am really excited about it."
Franklin Park is a familiar course for the Boston−area teams, which played a role in the way the women ran this weekend.
"I was really excited to run at Franklin Park again," Hieber said. "I enjoyed running at this course last time and I was looking forward to it. It's such a straightforward course. You can easily break it up into three parts, and focus on each separately."
The postseason begins this weekend when Tufts heads to Hamilton for the NESCAC Championships, where the top 12 women will run. While many Jumbos are done for the year, the rest are only just entering the most important part of the season.
