MEDFORD – The Tufts University men's cross country team finished in second place at the annual Bates Super XC Shootout on Saturday at Pineland Farms in Gray, Maine.
Unlike other cross country meets, the top 10 finishers for each team score in this event. The host Bates College won with a 123 score, edging out Tufts at 156. Third-place Connecticut College finished at 193.
Tufts sophomore Walter Wagude was the first Jumbo runner to cross the finish line as he completed the eight-kilometer race in third place with a time of 26:13.5.
The next four Jumbos to finish were all in a row, starting with freshman Martin Horne in 11th place with a time of 26:50.4, just one tenth of a second behind the 10th place runner. Freshman Alex Friedman finished in 12th with a time of 26:58.0. Junior Evan Ensslin (pictured) was right behind Friedman, finishing in 13th, with a time of 26:59.4, and senior Joseph Harmon was seven-tenths of a second behind Ensslin in 14th place with a time of 27:00.1.
Sophomore Ryan Proulx also put up a good time for the Jumbos, finishing in 17th place with a time of 27:08.1. Placing 20th through 23rd were all Tufts runners as well. In 20th was senior Dalton Tanner (27:26.0), 21st was freshman Brady Colford (27:34.0), 22nd was sophomore Nate Oakes (27:36.8), and 23rd was sophomore Adam Bernstein (27:40.3). That rounded out Tufts' top 10.
Senior Collin O'Sullivan (27:54.4), sophomore Jack Walsh (28:23.0), junior Connor Giersch (28:33.0), freshman Enock Musyoka (28:38.2), and freshman James Johnson (29:26.8) all competed for the Jumbos in the event as well.
Next, Tufts will compete in the Purple Valley Classic at Mount Greylock High School in Williamstown, Massachusetts next Saturday, September 25.
