WESTFIELD, MA - Led by three All-Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) performers, the Tufts men's cross country team raced to a second-place finish at the ECAC Division III championship meet hosted by Westfield State University today.
In the eight-kilometer race held at Stanley Park, Tufts' top five finishers compiled a score of 71 that was behind only Williams College's 57 score. A total of 43 teams were entered in the race. Third-place Amherst College was way back with a 111 total.
Tufts placed four runners in the top 20 out of 303 overall. The top 15 all earned ECAC honors, with Jumbo senior Joseph St. Pierre, junior Michael Curley and juinior James Traester receiving the award. Sophomore Bobby McLaughlin just missed.
St. Pierre led Tufts and was fourth overall with a 25:51.88 time, 14 seconds behind the winning finish of 25:37.40 raced by Amherst College sophomore Steven Lucey.
Curley ran second for Tufts and seventh overall with a 25:56.93 finish. Traester was the third Jumbo to cross the finish line with a 26:07.47 effort for 13th place overall. McLaughlin's 26:14.13 for 18th overall was less than two seconds out of the top 15 for All-ECAC honors.
The fifth and final scorer for Tufts was senior Sam Garfield, who ran 26:29.45 for 29th place overall. Also competing for the Jumbos, freshman Sam Little raced to a 27:00.56 finish (58th) and sophomore Michael Caughron timed 27:02.11 (61st).
Tufts will run for a spot in the NCAA Championship Race next Saturday when they compete at the NCAA Regional Championship at Mount Greylock High School in Williamstown, Mass.
Jumbos Joseph St. Pierre, Michael Curley and James Traester among the 2014 All-ECAC recipients
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