TUXC, Faller Come Away From Conn With Victory

(9/26/2009) See more Photos     Full Results

Ideal racing conditions, top regional competition, and the first 8k for the freshmen led to an all-around enjoyable experience at Saturdays Conn College Invitational. The Tufts Cross Country team returned to the Conn College Invitational this weekend after a brief 3-year hiatus from the meet. And they did so in grand fashion, coming away with both the individual and team titles.

Senior Jesse Faller led the way for the Jumbos by opening his 8k season with a stellar 25:17 and first place finish this week. Captain Nick Welch and junior Jeff Ragazzini finish just back from Faller in 5th and 9th place, respectively. Ragazzini posted a great PR with his first ever sub-26:00 race. Joining Ragazzini in the sub-26 family was freshmen Matt Rand who finished 4th for the squad. His time of 25:56 is a fantastic start to his first year of racing at Tufts. Even better than Rand's breaking 26 minutes was the fact that his classmate Kyle Marks was right on his heels, clocking in at 26:01. The two first-year racers rounded out the Top-5 for the Jumbos with their 15th and 16th place finishes.

All in all, the Jumbos had a complete avalanche of PRs this weekend at the Harkenss Memorial State Park course. In addition to Ragazzini's big leap from last season, freshman Dan Kirschner, sophomores Connor Rose and Scott McArthur, and senior Billy Hale each added their own first time sub-27 PRs. In addition, Chris Brunnquell's fantastic summer base and strength overcame a ‘buried’ start to the race to add his own PR to the weekend. His 26:26 was more than 30 seconds better than his showing at Open NEs last year.

The Jumbos showed immense depth this weekend with 12 athletes under 27:00 and almost the entire top-7 under the 26:00 mark. With senior Jason Hanrahan and freshmen Adam Brosh and Sam Haney right on the cusp of breaking through the 27 minute barrier, there is even more backup on the way.

The squad will continue its consistent level of training over the next two weeks until their next race at Franklin Park for the Open New England Championships. This weekend was a great way to see what sort of base the Jumbos put in place over a great summer of training. Needless to say, the foundation is strong and a great place to build from.


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