MASON, OH - The Tufts men's cross country team finished 22nd out of 32 teams at the 2014 NCAA Division III Championship Race held at the Golf Center at King's Island today.
Tufts' five best finishers compiled a team score of 536, one point ahead of 23rd-place Wisconsin Stout (537). North Central won the 2014 NCAA title for the 16th time with a 130 team score. Defending champion St. Olaf was second at 143. St. Olaf's Grant Wintheiser won the race with a 23:44.9 time.
Sophomores Tim Nichols and Luke O'Connor led the Jumbos. Nichols finished the eight-kilometer course in a 25:05.2 time for 69th place out of 276 runners. O'Connor was second for the Jumbos and 80th overall with a 25:10.1 finish.
Both Jumbos improved significantly upon their times and finishes at the NCAA Race last season. Nichols was 100th at the 2013 Championship in Indiana with a 25:53 time and O'Connor was 157th in 26:17.
Senior co-captain Nick Guarnaccia, the only other member of the 2014 Jumbo team who had NCAA race experience, finished 97th today (25:20.6). That also was an upgrade on last year's performance of 26:14 for a 153rd place finish.
Senior Colin McCrory scored fourth for Tufts today with a 25:59.8 time that was 208th overall. Freshman Ty Enos also placed in the Jumbo top five at 26:22.5 for 246th place.
Senior co-captain Marshall Pagano and senior Joseph St. Pierre were also part of Tufts' seven-man NCAA team. Pagano was 259th overall crossing the finish line in 26:44.3. St. Pierre ran 26:47.8 for 262nd.
The weather in Mason, Ohio warmed up into the low 50's today under cloudy skies for the men's race.
Tufts was competing at the NCAA Championship Race for the fourth straight year and for the 13th time in program history.
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