WINNECONNE, WI - Junior Tim Nichols of the Tufts Men's Cross Country team finished 19th at the 2015 NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championship today to earn the first All-American honors by a Jumbo since 2011.
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| Tim Nichols became the ninth All-American in team history |
Nichols' time of 24:46.20 over eight kilometers was fourth among New England runners at the race. He was in 84th place after one kilometer (3:03), moved into the top 30 at the two-kilometer mark (6:04) and then took his place among the top 20 by the 3.95 kilometer post. His finish is the best by a Jumbo since Matt Rand was also 19th at the 2011 national championship. It's tied for the fifth-best placement at Nationals in team history.
The Tufts team finished 17th overall out of 32 in the meet. The five Jumbo scorers posted a 433 total. They were six ahead of 18th place Carnegie Mellon (439) and 13 behind 16th place Washington University (420). Tufts was fourth among New England squads behind Williams (second, 144), Amherst (10th, 303) and Wesleyan (11th, 331).
Junior Luke O'Connor ran second for Tufts with a 25:22.50 time that was 74th overall out of the 278 total participants. Sophomore Ty Enos was next for the Jumbos in 25:47.80 for 154th place. Senior co-captains James Traester (157th in 25:49.40) and Michael Curley (174th in 25:55.20) rounded out the scoring for Tufts.
Junior Michael Caughron ran 26:15 flat and freshman Christian Swenson timed 27:13.40 as the non-scoring Jumbos.
Wisconsin-Eau Claire won the national championship in a close race over Williams. The Blugolds totaled a 135 score, nine in front of the Ephs. Geneseo State was third at 209.
Ian LaMere from Wisconsin-Platteville won the race by 40 seconds with a 23:35.40 time.
Tufts' team finish was five places up from their 22nd place last fall. It matched their 17th place from 2013.
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