WESTFIELD - The Jumbo men's cross country team placed five runners in the top 35 and all seven in the top 50 to finish fifth at the NCAA Div. III New England Championship at Westfield State on Saturday.
The meet serves as the national qualifying race, as the top two teams automatically advance to next weekend's NCAA Championship. The next three teams to finish are eligible for an at-large bid. This is the route the Jumbos will hope to take as their 114 points placed fifth of 50 teams.
Middlebury claimed the team title with 91 points. Bowdoin grabbed the second automatic qualifying spot with 101 points. Bates placed third with 105, while Williams finished only one point ahead of the Jumbos in fourth.
Leading the charge for Tufts was senior co-captain Matt Rand (Cape Elizabeth, ME). He clocked a time of 25:00 over the eight-kilometer course to place sixth in the field of 351. The top-35 finish secures him All-New England honors for the third consecutive year. Only nine seconds back of Rand was junior Ben Wallis (Dover, NH). He placed 11th overall, earning All-New England honors for the first time in his career.
Senior Tyler Andrews (Concord, MA) also earned his first All-New England honor, as he placed 28th overall in a time of 25:32. Finishing back-to-back in 34th and 35th were juniors Andrew Shapero (Laguna Beach, CA) and Brian McLaughlin (Barrington, RI). Shapero clocked a time of 25:37 while McLaughlin was only five seconds behind. The All-New England award is the first for Shapero and second for McLaughlin.
Rounding out Tufts' squad of seven were senior Kyle Marks (Carmel, IN) and junior Jake McCauley (Darien, CT). Marks took 38th in a time of 25:43, while McCauley's time of 25:52 was good enough for 43rd.
Although the Jumbos did not improve upon last year's fifth-place showing, the squad's 114 points were only 23 points out of first-place. Last season, the Jumbos were 87 points out of first. In that respect, head coach Ethan Barron's team demonstrated drastic improvement.
The top-five teams in New England are very strong and evenly-matched, meaning the fifth-place Jumbos have a very good chance of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship. If the team does not qualify, Rand and Wallis will advance individually.
The squad will anxiously await the announcement of the national field Sunday afternoon. If the team earns a national bid, they will travel to Terre Haute, IN to compete in the NCAA Championship next Saturday.
Race results
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