Tufts runs to first ECAC title in program history

On Saturday, Tufts traveled to Williams for the annual Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships. The Jumbos, like most other top programs in the region, sat out their top seven runners and instead ran runners eight through 14. Tufts showcased its depth by winning this meet for the first time in team history, scoring a low of 45 points and defeating second place University of New England (UNE) by 18.

The six-kilometer course at Mount Greylock High School is one of the tougher courses in the region. After bringing runners through flat fields, it winds through a hilly, wooded trail with an especially long hill at the end. Returning Jumbos had raced this course in September 2014, so they knew it well.

Junior Lindsay Atkeson was the top finisher for Tufts, taking second overall in 23:02.85, an improvement of 38 seconds from her race here last year. She was just eight seconds behind race-winner Tiana Thomas of UNE. Senior Lily Corcoran, who has been having a spectacular season so far, ran 23:20.65 for sixth overall, improving by 1:35 over her time last year. First-year Clara Wagner also had a strong race, taking 10th overall in 23:30.07. Sophomore Margot Rashba and first-year Kelsey Tierney rounded out the scoring for the Jumbos by finishing in 23:42.19 and 23:44.85 for 13th and 14th, respectively. Rashba's time represented a 57-second improvement from her time on the same course last season. First-year Julia Noble, who ran 24:03.87 for 23rd, and senior Michele de Mars, who ran 24:33.31, rounded out the finishers for Tufts.

"I wanted to hang tough with my teammates and use them during the race to push myself," de Mars said. "We have such a deep team this year, and I knew that the more we packed up, the better shot we had at winning the meet. The team was really aiming to have as many girls in the top pack as possible. This meant going out strong and pacing with the front group. We wanted to win the meet."

Tierney spoke about her personal strategy during the race.

"I wanted to stay up with the pack of other Tufts girls and concentrate on the hill," Tierney said. "I was really happy with how everything ended. We definitely knew we wanted...[to] show other teams how deep Tufts University cross country is."

This year, as in past years, the first-years have had a phenomenal impact on the success of the team. Three first-years (Wagner, Tierney and Noble) were on the ECAC roster -- a sign of good things to come in the next few years for the program.

"I was incredibly impressed with our [first-years] on the team and how they performed at a championship meet," de Mars said. "Both Clara [Wagner] and Julia [Noble] did an awesome job of moving up during the race and fighting for every spot until they crossed the finish line. It was great to see all of their hard work from the season pay off when it really counted."

For de Mars, however, this was her final hurrah.

"Saturday was a reminder for me of how lucky I am to have been part of such an amazing group of girls during my four years at Tufts," de Mars said. "I couldn't be happier with how my last cross country meet ended, and I am so excited to see what we can accomplish as a program in the next few weeks."

Next weekend, the New England Region No. 4 Tufts, as well as all of its fans, will travel back to Harkness Memorial State Park at Conn. College for the NCAA Div. III New England Regional, where the team will hope to qualify for the national championships once again. Tufts raced the course only a few weeks ago and had a strong showing, placing second to MIT. Riding on one of their strongest seasons in program history, the Jumbos are a favorite to qualify if they race well, and, judging by how things have been going this season, that will likely be the case.