Wisconsin Is Good Home For Jumbos

(10/15/2005) See more Photos     Full Results

In a race Tufts Varsity attended because it featured some top Division III competition and closely resembled nationals, the Jumbos performed as well as they have all year. After waking up for a 4 AM departure from campus and spending a combined seven hours on Friday traveling via airplane and car, the eight runners who made the trip to Jim Drews faced more adversity in the form of fatigue than they have in previous races this season.

The obstacles proved moot, however, as Tufts finished right where they expected to be, beating two teams ranked ahead of them in National polls. These two teams, Wartburg and Haverford, finished with 242 and 243 points, respectively, behind Tufts? 205. A third high-ranked Div III team, Nebraska Wesleyan, finished just ahead of Tufts with 172 points, with UW-Lacrosse ahead of them.

The Jumbos were led by senior Matt Lacey, who broke the 25 minute barrier for the first time in his career, finishing in 24:55. Lacey finished in thirteenth place among collegiate runners and second among those in Division III, showing once again that he can compete with anything the division can throw at him. Junior Josh Kennedy finished just five seconds and four places behind Lacey in 25:00, setting a personal record and missing the 25 minute barrier by just two-tenths of a second. The duo figure to be one of the top one-two punches in Div III this year.

Tufts? third runner, senior Matt Fortin, raced well despite a hitch in the middle of the race. Fortin was running closely behind a pack of Div III runners when, suddenly, a member of the pack jumped to the side and left Fortin to run into a post on the course. Fortin managed to take the collision lightly and survived without injury, but took a dive and lost contact with the pack of runners, along with about ten seconds.

A bright spot for the Jumbos was the strong comeback of senior Kyle Doran, who has been hampered by injuries and limited in his training. Doran finished fourth for the Jumbos, seven seconds behind Fortin in 25:56. Just a speed-demon kick behind Doran was junior Justin Chung, who finished fifth for the Jumbos in 26:01 and showed once again that he won?t back down from the top competition in his first year on varsity.

Senior Neil Orfield finished sixth for Tufts, running 26:13 and helping Wartburg narrowly defeat Haverford by displacing Haverford?s fifth runner. Sophomore Dave Sorensen completed Tufts? top seven, continuing a breakout season and adding another sub 27 time to his list, finishing in 26:56. Fellow sophomore Brendan McNeish finished eighth for the Jumbos in 27:26.

Sorensen and McNeish will lead the Jumbos at ECACs in their quest to win a third straight Triple Crown. The two runners will bring invaluable talent, experience, and leadership skills to Tufts? second seven, and will be ready to take roles as leaders on Varsity for the next couple years.

Meanwhile, the top seven will welcome back sophomore Chris Kantos, who has been hampered most of the season with a hip injury. Kantos has shown considerable improvement recently, performing well in workouts and at an open 8K race at Fresh Pond.

While the Jumbos raced well at Jim Drews, they know they can do better. With the addition of Kantos, the experience of Jim Drews, better traveling conditions, and TUXC Crazies lining the course, the Jumbos believe they belong in the top four, and on the podium, at nationals.



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