Tufts Protects Its House

(9/24/2005) See more Photos     Full Results

Tufts performed well at the season's only home meet, putting five in the top 15 for the second straight first place finish at the annual Jumbo Invitational.

Matt Lacey (25:41) and Josh Kennedy (25:43) both ran Grafton PRs on Saturday (Lacey by 38 seconds, Kennedy by 48) as the duo took 2nd and 3rd. The two put 20 seconds on some tough Wesleyan opponents and are hitting their strides as they head into an off weekend before All-New Englands. Matt Fortin (26:27), Kyle Doran (26:29), and Justin Chung (26:32) worked together to take 13th, 14th, and 16th respectively moving up on the competition as they worked the final three miles. Neil Orfield, in prime shape this season, finished not far from Chung and the middle pack, taking 22nd in 26:48. Dave Sorensen rounded out the top seven on Saturday, taking 34th in 27:17.

The Jumbos top seven notched 45 points to take first, outpacing Wesleyan (64), MIT (75), and Amherst (90). The team is ranked 3rd in the most recent NE Div. III coaches poll and 9th nationally.

Grafton showcased some strong performances for the Class of '08. Besides Sorensen, Brendan McNeish ran 27:56 for his first ever race at the Farm Course. McNeish was followed closely by Skye Isard in 28:01. Isard has spent much of the season cross-training due to shin splints, but he's turned in solid performances over the last 2 weeks. Anyenda Inyagwa was on their heels with a 28:14.

And Ciaran O'Donovan turned in his best performance of the season, running a well-paced race to hit 29:44 (1:05 faster than Grafton last year, 50 seconds faster than last week at UMass-Dartmouth).

A lot of Grafton times improved across the board, no doubt a testament to the great work that Tufts alumni put in over the last week to get the Farm Course in prime shape. One of those alumni was Nate Brigham, who ran unattached in the race for 25th in 26:55.

This week, much of the team will take a break after three weeks of races as Tufts heads to Keene State on Saturday.


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