WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Tufts University men's cross country team placed five runners in the top-30 overall out of 432 competitors Saturday at the James Earley Invitational at Westfield State University, as the Jumbos finished second overall out of 41 teams on the 8-kilometer course in Westfield, Massachusetts.
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| Brian Reaney placed 16th overall and posted the team's second-best time. |
Brandeis finished first overall with a team score of 68, as the Jumbos finished 40 points behind the Judges with 108 points. Norwich finished third overall with a team score of 189, while Williams earned fourth-place honors with a point total of 204. Rounding out the top-five was Fitchburg State with a score of 207. Damon Kilgore of Gordon finished first overall on the individual side with a time of 25:10.57.
Sophomore Brian Djerf was the Jumbos' top-finisher for the first time in his career, as he recorded a season-best time of 25:56.14 in the 8-kilometer race. The Quincy, Massachusetts, native finished ninth overall in his third meet of the season. Sophomore Brian Reaney (26:03.53) placed 16th overall and sophomore Rory Buckman (26:25.96) finished 25th overall, as the two runners were the Jumbos' second and third-place finishers, respectively.
Freshman David Ng'etich placed 28th overall with a time of 26:30.44, while being the squad's fourth-place finisher. Rounding out the top-five for the Jumbos was sophomore Tom Doyle, who finished 30th overall with a time of 26:34.09. Freshman Michael Carnavos (26:40.52) placed 34th overall and freshman Colin Raposo (26:43.16) tallied a 37th-place finish.
The Jumbos received strong contributions from sophomore Kyle Anderson (27:11.67), junior John Greenberg (27:16.39), freshman Taylor Wurts (27:43.44) and senior Chris Warren (28:54.98).
The Jumbos rested some top-runners, including senior captains Tim Nichols and Luke O'Connor. Nichols was the Jumbos' top-finisher during the team's season-opening meet at the Bates Invitational on Sept. 17, while also leading the team at the Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 1. In those same two meets, O'Connor was the squad's second-place finisher.
The Jumbos will be back in action next Saturday (Oct. 15), as the team will make the journey to New London, Connecticut, for the Connecticut College Invitational. The squad will then have two weeks to prepare for the NESCAC Championship, which will be held on Saturday (Oct. 29) at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.
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