JUMBOS QUALIFY FOR NATIONALS!

(11/10/2007) Full Results

The Jumbos traveled to New London this weekend to compete at the New England regional qualifier, and with outstanding performances all around, the Jumbos had the region saying "Where did Tufts come from?"

After finishing 5th at NESCACs, the Jumbos were seeded to have a 6th place finish, at best. The Tufts men however, were thinking a bit differently this Saturday. The Jumbos finished in an amazing 3rd place behind winners Amherst and runners up Williams. The Jumbos scored 135 points, earning them a spot to compete at the National meet next weekend in Northfield, Minnesota, at St. Olaf College.

The day got started with amazing performances from the Women's team, as Catherine Beck, Katy O'Brien, and Stephanie McNamara earned individual trips to the national meet. However before the womens race even began, there was a return of the famous Tufts Crazies, the crazies played a crucial role in the day, as they were there to set the tone for the teams to compete. As usual, the crazies dominated the fan scene, as was much appreciated by the competing Jumbos.

The race started off very well for the Tufts men, as numbers one through seven secured a spot very high up in the tightly packed field. The pack was tight, but the race got off to a slower pace than was expected by any of the Jumbos. The result of this was sophomore Nick Welch making a bold moving by moving to the front of the race. Soon to follow was senior Chris Kantos, as by around mile 2, the two were leading the race, followed closely by the rest of the Tufts men. The Jumbo men, tightly packed and moving well, looked phenomenal throughout the entire race. As the race progressed, the pack did not string out at all. However, this was not going have any impact on the race strategy of the Tufts men.

The bold moves by the team in the beginning of the race was only the start of the great performances by the Jumbos. Nearing the end of the race, sophomore Jesse Faller decided that it was time to make his move, and show the region what he was capable of. After having a great first 3 miles, Jesse continued by moving up through the field in the end of the race. Faller capped off his finish with an amazing last mile, where he moved up to finish with a laudable third place finish. With so many great races, and this amazing regionals performance, the Jumbos are ecstatic to see what Jesse will be capable of on the National level. Following Jesse was senior Dave Sorensen, who had a great performance from start to finish, finish with a phenomenal 11th place. Seconds behind Sorensen was senior Chris Kantos, who despite having lead earlier in the race, fell back a bit to finish in 16th. Behind Kantos was sophomore Nick Welch, who also had an amazing performance from start to finish. Rounding out the top 5 was freshman Greg Pallotta, who in his first regional appearance, did not fail to perform for the Jumbos finishing in 74th. As every point in this race counted, the Jumbos were lucky to have Pallotta perform so well in his debut regional performance. Following from a great ECAC performance, freshman Jerzy Eisenberg-Guyot also had an amazing debut race at the regional level. Jerzy finished with a very solid place of 110th in the tough field. Rounding out the top seven was junior David Tilton with a great finish in 129th. Following a rough week at ECACs due to sickness, Tilton definitely showed up this Saturday to come through for the Jumbos.

The Jumbos fly to Minnesota next week to compete at the National meet. On another note, this article would not be complete without mentioning the Tufts crazies. The crazies, as well as a few proud Tufts Alumni, were out in full color and force this Saturday to cheer the men and women competing on. A big thanks goes out to all the crazies who were there, as they are an integral part to the tradition of excellence known as TUXC.


Full Results