Teams: Women's Cross Country: Press Releases

Monday, September 14, 2009

WILFERT EARNS NESCAC'S FIRST CROSS COUNTRY PERFORMER OF THE WEEK AWARD

MEDFORD -- After running to the first cross country victory of her college career, Tufts University junior Amy Wilfert (Westborough, MA/Westborough) has been selected as the New England Small College Athletic Conference's (NESCAC) first Performer of the Week for the 2009 season.

At the season-opening Trinity College Bantam Cross Country Race on Saturday (Sept. 12), Wilfert finished the four-kilometer course at Wickham Park in Manchester, Connecticut with a time of 15:56. She crossed the finish line 16 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Michelle Wallace from The College of New Jersey. Her performance helped Tufts take second place out of seven teams at the meet with 40 points. Wilfert led three Jumbos who finished in the top 10 at the race featuring 100 competitors.

Wilfert is emerging as one of the region's best cross country runners. During her first season at Tufts in 2007, she came on as the season progressed and scored for the Jumbos at the NESCAC Championship and at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship. Last year she was 11th at the conference race and 14th in the region to earn her first NCAA berth. She placed 48th at the national race, which featured 279 runners.

This year, with classmate Stephanie McNamara (North Attleborough, MA/North Attleborough) out of the line-up, Wilfert is poised to lead a Tufts team ranked #24 in the nation and #5 in New England. She set the tone for the new season with her victory at Trinity. The next time that she runs the Wickham Park course will be at the 2009 NESCAC Championship meet on November 1.

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