Depth Earns Jumbos Highest Opens Finish in Years

(10/12/2012 7:19 PM) Full Results

The Tufts men traveled to Westfield, MA for the NEICAAA Championships. New England is the only region in the country to host an all-divisions meet, but for the Jumbos it was their first good look at some prime competition from the NESCAC and New England region. While not given the opportunity to avenge their early-season loss to Bates (who opted for out-of-region competition), the Jumbos were the top Division 3 team in both the varsity and sub-varsity races.

Tufts put five runners in the top 25 of the 205-person race to finish second only to Division 1 Boston College in the sub-varsity race. Juniors Brian McLaughlin, Jamie Norton, and Bobby McShane crossed the line within four seconds of each other for the 6th, 7th, and 9th overall spots, respectively. Sophomore Marshall Pagano followed closely in 16th, with senior co-captain and 800m specialist Jeff Marvel demonstrating some mettle at the longer distance with his 22nd place finish. PRs fell across the board -- an impressive display of the team's hard work not only in the scoring positions but up and down the roster.

In the varsity race, senior Matt Rand (15th) was the first of four Jumbos in the first 40 spots, with seniors Kyle Marks and Tyler Andrews and junior Ben Wallis in 20th, 34th, and 37th. No other school from Division 3 had more than two runners in the top 40. Juniors Jake McCauley, Andrew Shapero, and Sam Haney moved up well throughout the race to round out the seven varsity runners. Each has put in considerable work this season, both in practice and on the course, and they will be among those to count on come NESCACs.

The majority of the squad will compete at the Conn College Invite this coming Saturday, while the twelve suiting up for NESCACs will continue to train for the conference championship on October 27th at Bowdoin College. Stay tuned.


Full Results