MEDFORD, MA (October 29, 2026) – The Tufts University men's cross country team will defend its conference title on Saturday at the 2026 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship, hosted by Middlebury College. The men's race starts at noon.
Championship Meet Details
2026 NESCAC Men's Cross Country Championship
Date: Saturday, October 31, 2026
Time: 12:00 Noon
Location: Middlebury College Cross Country Course in Middlebury, VT - (
Directions & Parking /
Course Map)
Live Coverage:
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LIVE RESULTS
Last year, Tufts won its first conference championship since 2012 and fifth overall, posting the meet's lowest team score (30) since 2019. Three of the five scorers from that team have graduated, but the Jumbos expect to be in the mix again this season.
"The goal remains the same: to go out there and try to win it," said Tufts Director of Track & Field/Cross Country
Jamie Norton. "It's going to be a very close race, but we are capable of winning and just have to go put it all together on race day."
Tufts is led this fall by senior
Jonah Reisner, who was the runner-up at last year's NESCAC meet. Senior
Harris Gulbransen, who was second for Tufts and fourth overall at the 2025 conference championship, also returns from last year's title team.
Other returning members of last year's NESCAC-winning group are seniors
Meba Henok (28th in 2025),
Sam Kurian (30th) and
Simon Donovan, junior
Gabe Grove and sophomore
Chris Hovet.
Talented newcomers have bolstered the lineup as well. This year's 15-man NESCAC squad also includes sophomores Will Burch,
Ben Hester and
Tadhg Murray, along with freshmen
Taylor Combs,
Ryan Optekar,
Jason Minicozzi,
Elliott Reines and
Ellis Wood.
Tufts previously competed at the Middlebury course in the season-opening Aldrich Invitational on September 12, where Gulbransen, Reines, Minicozzi, Grove and Hovet were the team's top five. Reisner and Kurian were among the Jumbos who did not race that day.
Reisner, who placed fifth in a field stacked with national competitors at the Running of the Cows on the NCAA Championship course at Carleton College on October 3, could challenge for the individual title Saturday. The last Tufts runner to win at the NESCAC Championship was Tim Nichols in 2016. Hovet, Minicozzi, Combs and Henok also scored for Tufts at the "Pre-Nationals" meet.
Tufts was ranked No. 16 in last week's USTFCCCA Division III national poll. Five other NESCAC teams are also in the top 25: No. 14 Williams College, No. 15 Wesleyan University, No. 19 Bates College, No. 20 Amherst College and No. 23 Colby College. Six nationally ranked teams should make for a highly competitive conference meet.
As the championship season begins, the Jumbos hope to be at full strength for the first time in 2026.
"I don't think we've really had a performance as a team that has been close to reflecting what we're capable of yet this year," Norton said. "The goal has been to be ready to do that this weekend."
--JUMBOS--
