First-year runners show promise for Tufts cross country at Purple Valley Classic

Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Williamstown, Mass. to compete in the Purple Valley Classic, hosted by Williams College, over the weekend.

On the men’s side, Tufts entered runners in both the eight-kilometer and five-kilometer races. In the eight-kilometer race, the Jumbos collectively finished 10th of 26 teams. Among a field of 324 runners, junior Brian Reaney was the first Jumbo to cross the finish line in a time of 27:22.1,earning a 40th place finish. Junior Christian Swenson was not far behind with a time of 27:29.4 (good for 48th overall).

First-year Patrick Nero had a strong showing in his collegiate debut. Nero finished third among Tufts runners and 53rd overall with a time of 27:38.6.Another stand out first-year performance came from Peter Horvath, who was the Jumbos’ sixth-place finisher (and 98th overall) with a time of 28:13.

A number of Tufts’ mid-distance runners — athletes who are on the cross country roster but focus mainly on track and field events — ran in the five-kilometer race. In this event, Tufts placed third out of six teams. Senior Tom DePalma ran an impressive time of 16:46.6 to finish first for Tufts and fifth overall. DePalma was followed by sophomores Matthew McDermott and Dylan McEniry, who finished in the top 30 with times of 17:46.5 and 17:50, respectively.

The Purple Valley Invitational was the Jumbos’ first official meet of the season, as their Sept. 16 race at Bates was a tempo run, according to Reaney. Saturday’s warm and sunny conditions made competing on an already difficult course even more challenging.

“The course has a giant hill in the middle of it as well as some other rolling hills, so it is kind of a slower course,” Reaney said.

Such conditions prevented several Jumbos from having the race that they might have hoped for. However, strong showings from first-year runners in the eight-kilometer race and DePalma’s impressive five-kilometer performance provide the team with ample reasons to be optimistic about the remainder of the season.

Senior co-captain Josh Greenberg, who was unable to run this weekend due to injury, acknowledged that the Jumbos did not have their best showing but expressed positivity going forward.

“It was a big race against a number of rival NESCAC schools like Amherst, Middlebury, Williams and Hamilton. There were also some other top teams from the Atlantic region there, so it was our first shot competing against some of the top teams in the nation that we hope to beat by the end of the season,” Greenberg said. “Across the board, not everyone had their best day. I think that the first-years who ran in the [eight-kilometer race] as well as the mid-distance guys who ran in the [five-kilometer race] both stood out as extremely promising.”

Members of the women’s team also competed in two events at the Purple Valley Classic: the six-kilometer and five-kilometer races. In the former event, the Jumbos placed seventh out of 26 teams. In a field of 286 runners, Tufts faced some of the most difficult competition they will see this season.

Junior Natalie Bettez led Tufts with a time of 22:43.1 to earn a seventh place overall finish.Bettez was followed by senior tri-captain Brittany Bowman, who was the 17th runner across the finish line with a time of 23:07.7.

The women’s team also saw great promise from their young runners, with first-years Carly Curcuru, Alexandra Wolf and Sara Mitchell all finishing among the Jumbos' top 10.Curcuru was the top first-year finisher with a time of 24:10.1 and a 49th-place overall finish.

“This was the first 6k race for all of the freshmen,” said Bowman. “As a freshman, it is nerve wracking to have your first 6k be at Williams — a hilly course — on a hot day with lots of competitive athletes. They all did a good job of working through that.”

The women’s mid-distance runners finished second of 27 teams in the five-kilometer race, losing only to Williams. Sophomore Rhemi Toth was Tufts’ top runner in this event, finishing in a time of 21:07.6 to place 11th overall.

Members of the women’s team echoed similar frustration with the day’s conditions that the men’s team expressed.

“The conditions prevented us from doing our best. It was really hot and the fact that it was such a crowded race made it hard to get out there and do our best,” junior Livvy Barnett, who finished ninth for the Jumbos, said.

Barnett explained that the team has potential to be much more competitive in the coming races.

“Our place [seventh] does not reflect how deep our team is in my opinion,” Barnett said. “It was also our first [six-kilometer race] of the season, so it was tricky to work with that mentally especially with pacing and finishing the race."

Both the men’s and women’s teams look to capitalize on the potential that they demonstrated this weekend in the upcoming All New England Championship on Oct. 7.