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Matt Rand finished third in the conference
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AMHERST - The Tufts men's cross country team placed all five scorers in the top 35 to finish in fifth of 11 teams at the NESCAC Championship at Amherst College on Saturday.
Junior Matt Rand (Cape Elizabeth, ME) led the way for Tufts, placing third overall in a time of 26:15 over the five-mile course. With the third-place showing, Rand earns All-NESCAC honors for the second consecutive year. Senior Michael Schmidt of Middlebury pulled away from the 129-man field to win the race in 25:51 despite losing his right shoe in the mud at mile three.
Williams College won the team title, placing six runners in the top 15 to accumulate a score of 49 points. Bowdoin and Bates tied for second place with 79 points. Defending champion Middlebury placed fourth with 94 points, while the Jumbos rounded out the top five with a score of 109.
Cold weather and a very sloppy course made for extremely difficult racing conditions. The shin-deep mud and blustery winds slowed down all the competitors. Nonetheless, many Jumbos were able to battle through the adverse conditions to post some solid performances.
Sophomore Brian McLaughlin (Barrington, RI) was second to finish for the Jumbos, crossing the line in 20th with a time of 26:46. Returning to form from an early-season injury was sophomore Liam Cassidy (Brunswick, ME), who placed third for Tufts and 25th overall with a time of 26:50. Two seconds behind Cassidy was junior Kyle Marks (Carmel, IN) who finished 27th overall.
Rounding out the varsity seven for the Jumbos were sophomores Andrew Shapero (Laguna Beach, CA) and Ben Wallis (Dover, NH), and junior Sam Haney (Essex, CT). Shapero placed 37th in a time of 27:06. Wallis clocked a time of 27:09, good enough for 41st place overall. Haney was two seconds back of Wallis to finish 44th.
Although the Jumbos fell back two places from last year's top-three finish, the team currently has multiple varsity-caliber runners nursing injuries. With the most important team race of the season still two weeks away, these athletes will look to return to top form in hopes of securing the team a berth to the NCAA Championship on November 19.
Next weekend, the second seven runners on Coach Ethan Barron's squad will compete in the ECAC Championship at Williams College. The varsity runners will rest in preparation for the Division III New England Regional Championship on November 12 at Bowdoin College.
Championship results
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