Teams: Women's Cross Country: Press Releases

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

FOUR CROSS COUNTRY RUNNERS RACE TO ALL-NESCAC RECOGNITION

MEDFORD -- The Tufts University cross country teams received four outstanding performances at the 2008 NESCAC Championship race, efforts that have now earned the Jumbo quartet All-Conference honors.

Sophomore Stephanie McNamara (Attleborough, MA) and sophomore Amy Wilfert (Westborough, MA) of the women's team and juniors Jesse Faller (Burlington, MA) and Nick Welch (Seattle, WA) from the men's team were all among the top 14 in their respective races, with the top seven named to the first team and placed 8-14 gaining second team accolades. The championship was held at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine and hosted by Bates College last Saturday (Nov. 1).

In fact, Tufts did much better than top 14. Faller was third and Welch was seventh in the eight-kilometer men's race to earn first team honors. Faller was a snap out of second place, his 25:43 time just behind second-place Edgar Koskey of Williams' 25:42. Welch placed seventh in the 119-man race, just two seconds out of sixth with his 26:07 time. Faller's honor is the second of his career from NESCAC, following last season's 14th-place effort. Welch improved 28 spots from last year's 35th place finish.

McNamara had the best Tufts finish with a 22:17 time for six kilometers that was second out of 117 NESCAC women. She had just missed NESCAC honors in her first year last fall, finishing 15th. She continued a 2008 season that has featured a row of finishes in the low single-digits. Wilfert, perhaps a little overshadowed by her classmate, continued a solid sophomore campaign. She placed 11th at NESCAC's with a 22:36 run, an improvement of 42 places from last season.

Both Jumbo teams placed fourth out of 11 teams at the conference championships.

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