Tufts takes the NESCAC title for a third consecutive year

(10/29/2005) See more Photos     Full Results

On a cold and overcast day, the Tufts Jumbos made the long trip to Middletown, CT to battle for top NESCAC honors. While many would characterize Wesleyan's home course as "Grafton-like," this writer would have to disagree. The layout of the course encompassed two main loops: one in the woods and the other around a large, relatively flat field. The difference between these two loops was about 30 feet in elevation, which was concentrated in one steep ascent. But enough of the course, let's get on to the race.

It started like any other cross country race, runners anxiously toeing the line. With a crack the gun went off, (honorary starter for the meet was our own Connie Putnam), and there was a hectic move for position. Butcher of Middlebury quickly moved to the front and took it out in a blistering pace that he would pay for later. The two Wesleyan leaders, Kiely and Fuhrman, with defiant attitudes to defend their turf, kept the front pack moving at sub-5 min. pace. Soon, a gap broke between the top seven and the rest of the field. As the race progressed, this gap became even more pronounced, with a final separation of 26 seconds between the 7th and 8th place finishers.

While the battle raged on among the top guns, the second pack began to spread out as the runners fought each other for every place. Morrissey, Butcher, Fortin, and later Norte made up the front of the chase pack, half working together, half desperately trying to drop the others. Behind them the swell of runners kept fighting, refusing to fall back. The black pack of Bowdoin stayed entrenched in sight of the front with hopes of taking down the home team.

The 30-foot hill played a part in the end of this story. For Holtschulte, it provided the means to drop his one final follower, Owen Kiely. For many others, it proved to be their downfall, as they were unable to regain leg speed once they crested its peak.

With less than a half mile left in the race, both Tufts and Williams were in position to possibly win the race. The two teams' spectators realized every point would matter, and they all loudly made this known to their runners. Lacey, feeling drained from a heavily surged race, reached down and moved into 3rd over the final 600 meters before being retaken by Wills of Williams. Kennedy, caught in no man's land, had no chance to pass or be passed. As the lead chase pack began to waiver over the final stretch, Fortin madly sprinted past them to finish one spot behind Kennedy. Chung, having a great day, kicked down the final meters only to be caught by Seybert and Ferrence of Williams.

The order of finish for the Jumbos top 7 was Matt Lacey, Josh Kennedy, Matt Fortin, Justin Chung, Christopher Kantos (in his first race back with the team), Kyle Doran, and Neil Orfield. Together, these men were able to get by with a 4-point margin of victory over Williams. The victory marks the Jumbos' third straight NESCAC title.

In other news, Nate Cleveland won the 5k open race over Skye Isard, which also included the incredible return of Tim Bassell to the racing scene. Chad Uy, Tim Churella, and David Tilton also rebounded from injuries and raced at NESCACs. Various alumni made the trip to Wesleyan to watch the team repeat as champions and a team of Brian McNamara, James Lamoureux, Peter Bromka, Aaron Kaye, John Murphy, and Ben Pieluch particpated in the open race.



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