Monday,
November 14, 2005
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY QUALIFIES FOR NCAA TITLE RACE
MEDFORD -- The Tufts University Women's Cross Country team will make its second appearance at the NCAA Division III National Championship Race next Saturday (Nov. 19) after earning a berth by finishing fifth out of 41 teams at the New England Region Qualifier on Saturday afternoon in Springfield.
The Jumbos, who last qualified for Nationals in 1999, will race at the 2005 NCAA Championship hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio next Saturday (Nov. 19). The national championship race will be run at 11 AM at the Methodist Theological School and Dornoch Golf Club.
At the regional race, hosted by Springfield College, Tufts was a comfortable fifth-place finisher with 145 points, far ahead of sixth-place Wellesley at 195. Sophomore Catherine Beck (Brookline, NH/Hollis-Brookline) was the top Jumbo finisher in 14th place overall with a time of 22 minutes, 27 seconds over the six-kilometer course.
Williams College won the regional and had the top individual finisher in Caroline Cretti, who had a 21:30.7 time. Colby College (81 pts.), Amherst College (88), Middlebury College (129) also join the Jumbos for All-NESCAC representation at Nationals.
Tufts had all five of its scorers finish in the top 50 at the regional race out of 281 competitors. Four Jumbos were in the top 30. Sophomore Katy O'Brien (North Easton, MA/Oliver Ames) took 27th place overall (22:57.6) to lead a trio of Jumbo finishers in succession. Senior Becca Ades (Shelburne, VT/Champlain Valley Union) was 28th in 22:58.5 and freshman Evelyn Sharkey (Brunswick, ME/John Bapst) took 29th with a time of 22:59.1. The final Jumbo scorer was junior Raquel Morgan (Middletown, MD/Middletown) in 47th place (23:25.3).
"I
think all things considered, especially the brutal academic week the kids had,
we did pretty well," Coach Kristen Morwick said. "On a fairly average day
for our team, we still out-distanced the sixth-place finisher (Wellesley) by 50
points. Katy O'Brien was the key. She and Evelyn Sharkey, who had never raced
a 6k and is doing cross country for the first time this season, moved up well
during the race."
Beck,
O'Brien, Ades and Sharkey earned All-New England honors by placing among the
top 35 finishers. That's the most the team has ever had in a season.
"That's
what I'm hoping for, but we'll have to put it all together for that to
happen," she said. "(The regional course) had a very rough start, uphill and
very narrow, and the first mile was exceptionally fast, so it was good
preparation for the team in terms of how Nationals usually runs.
"I'm
pleased," the sixth-year coach concluded. "We were expected to finish in the
top five in New England this year and so far we've met our expectations."
Tufts, which is currently ranked eighth in the 2005 NCAA poll, has sent several individual competitors to the national championship race over the years, including Ades last year. The 1999 squad is the only previous group to go as a team. They tied for 11th in the nation at the championship race.
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