BOSTON – The Tufts Men's Cross Country team competed in the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association Championships on Saturday at Franklin Park, finishing eighth out of 41 teams from Division I, II and III schools. The Jumbos finished third out of the competing Division III schools.
Central Connecticut State won the event with a total of 74 points, while Northeastern was the closest challenger coming in second with 120 points. Middlebury was the top Division III finisher, earning a fifth place finish with 214 points. Bates, the second Division III finisher, narrowly edged the Jumbos finishing in seventh place with 242 points. The Jumbos 269 points earned them eighth place.
Senior Benjamin Wallis (Dover, NH) led the Tufts men, finishing in 33rd place with a time of 25:14. Wallis was the NESCAC Performer of the week two weeks ago as he won the Bowdoin Invitational, leading the Jumbos to a second place finish.
Next to cross the finish line for the Jumbos was senior Andrew Shapero (Laguna Beach, CA), finishing in 36th place and clocking a time of 25:16. Classmate Jamie Norton's (Groton, MA) time of 25:44 earned him 65th place, while junior Nicholas Guarnaccia (Reston, VA) was just behind him in 66th place with a time of 25:45. Rounding out the scoring for the Jumbos was freshman Timothy Nichols (Lima, OH) whose time of 25:45 was good for 69th place.
A total of 279 runners competed in the event. Mike Biwott of AIC was the first place finisher with a time of 23:43. Mike Martin of Bates was the first Division III finisher, earning 8th place with a time of 24:42.
The squad will be back in action next weekend as they compete in the Connecticut College Invitational at Harkness State Park on October 19th.
