Jumbos 3rd at NESCAC Championships

(10/30/2010 1:42 PM) See more Photos     Full Results

Beautiful skies and perfect weather greeted the NESCAC Championship runners as they disembarked the bus this morning. However, the stellar weather was also joined by intensely spongy and muddy course conditions. With the ½" spikes screwed in and the shoes taped on, the Jumbo men battled and slogged through another grueling NESCAC Championships to finish 3rd place overall.

The combination or course conditions and championship repercussions, fast times were quickly forgotten. Multiple time national champion Peter Kosgei led the race in a well-fought 26:06 to demonstrate the difficulty of the course. Sophomore Matt Rand was Tufts’ top finisher earning All NESCAC honors for his 11th place finish. Following Rand was one of the tightest packs in Tufts history with merely 15 seconds separating the Jumbos’ 2nd and 7th man.

Senior co-captain Jeff Ragazzini led the chase pack with a 19th place overall finish. Freshman Liam Cassidy was only 2 seconds off of Ragazzini in 22nd place while Kyle Marks, Tyler Andrews, and Scott McArthur slammed the door shut with 25th, 26th, and 27th place finishes. Freshman Ben Wallis was the final Tufts’ displacer in 32nd place.

The Jumbos had the first 5th, 7th, and 12th man across the line, demonstrating both their talent and their depth this weekend. With Chris Brunnquell (44th) and Sam Haney (48th) posting strong performances, the Jumbos were the only team to put 9 athletes in the top 50 of this competitive field.

Middlebury College won the meet for the first time in school history with 78 points followed by Williams College with 94 points. Wesleyan University exhibited their own brand of pack running with a fourth place finish only one point in front of fifth place Bates College.

This meet brilliantly demonstrates the competitiveness of the NESCAC, arguably the deepest XC Conference in the nation. Any of the top six teams from this weekend’s NESCAC Championships have legitimate claims at a berth to the National Championships. With two weeks until the National Qualifier, every team heads home knowing that they have their work cut out for them this year at the New England Championships.

Next weekend the Jumbos will suit up the bulk of their 2nd seven at the ECAC Championships at Colt State Park in Bristol, RI.

Photos courtesy of Mike Doherty Photography


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