Tufts Sixth at Nationals

(11/20/2004) See more Photos     Full Results

Tufts Captures its Highest National Finish in Team History

A ridge of low pressure swung over Wisconsin a day prior to the national meet. A mix of light and heavy rain covered the Colfax golf course, softening the semi-frozen soil. Overcast skies, seasonally warm temperatures in the 40?s and a strong breeze greeted the day of the meet. This was the setup for the 2004 NCAA DIII National Cross Country Meet hosted by UW Eau Claire.

Favorites in the team competition included defending champions Calvin College, perennial podium team North Central College and UW Lacrosse. On the individual side, the list of favorites consisted of defending champion Josh Moen, Macharia Yuot, Neal Holtschulte, Mike Sawicki, and Ted Turner.

The race began like any other with our dedicated Crazies lining the course, barely clothed, but yelling their heart out with the TUXC flag flying. At the gun, the race was off. Josh Kennedy, Matt Lacey, Brian McNamara, and Nate Brigham jumped out to the front, while Peter Bromka, Matt Fortin, and Chris Kantos held back in the middle of the dense pack. Nothing changed over the first 1-2k as nearly all of the 215 runners were traveling at the same pace allowing for little room to navigate the crowd.

By the 2-mile mark, things began to spread out allowing for movement. Lacey, Kennedy, and Brigham kept a tight pack up in the 40s. Fortin had made contact with McNamara as was dictated by their race plan, while Bromka fell back to Kantos in hopes of getting both of them moving over the final 3 miles.

Brigham, being affected by a tiredness that he could not escape all season, began to fall off the pace around 3 miles. The group of McNamara and Fortin, sitting around 80th place at the time saw this and knew they would have to take up the slack. McNamara was the first to make a surge down a hill, but came up just short as the course turned back up the hill. As the hill was crested Fortin decided it was now or never and surged, eventually passing Brigham with McNamara in tow.

Kennedy ran a smart and well-coordinated race, remaining around 45th place until the last mile when he made a move towards the All-American places. At this point a long and hard fought season began to wear on Lacey as he lost contact with the sophomore. Kennedy continued to pass people until the last few meters and in doing so finished 32nd, earning himself All-American Honors. Fortin, showing his miler speed, surged past 12 runners in the final 1000 meters to finish 66th. Lacey held it together as best he could, but fell to 68th place. McNamara and Brigham finished off their college cross-country careers as they began it, together, in 89th and 91st respectively. Freshman Kantos put forth a consistent race and finished in 136th with a 20 second PR. Senior Peter Bromka, battling injuries his entire career, succumbed to yet another, and was unable to run up to his ability over the 8000 meters. He ended up with a 155th place finish.

The Team finished 6th overall behind Calvin, NCC, Lacrosse, Haverford, and Willamette. While the team hoped for and was expecting better, a 6th place finish still becomes the highest finish for Tufts in history, surpassing the 7th place finish of the 1996 team.

At the end of the day we would like to thank the Crazies for driving all the way out to Wisconsin to cheer us on, all the parents who have supported us and supplied bagels after a hard race, the coaching staff of Hob Brooks, Adam Carberry, Ethan Barron, and of course Coach Connie Putnam for all their support, hard work, and planning as without it none of this would be possible.

To the future 2005 team: Next Year will be our Year. We return the top 3 and number 6 from nationals. Get ready for a fun ride.





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