MEDFORD, MA (September 8, 2026) – Coming off one of the best seasons in team history last year, the Tufts University men's cross country team will look to pick up where they off and then some as a new season is set to start.
Tufts placed seventh at the NCAA Division III Championship last fall, its best national finish since the 2012 season. The Jumbos also won the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title for the first time in 13 years.
"A lot of last year was about showing ourselves to be the team that we can be, and the level that we believe we can be at every single year," said Director of Track & Field / Cross Country
Jamie Norton. "The group is very motivated towards showing that we can build upon that success and have it be something that we can sustain over time."
The Jumbos will look to do so after graduating a handful of last year's leading contributors. All-American
Cullen McCaleb, NCAA Regional runner-up
Amokrane Aouchiche, All-Conference honorees
Luke Brennan and
Calvin Cummings and
Quinn Hampson (fifth at Regional) are gone.
The returning group is strong at the top. Seniors
Harris Gulbransen and
Jonah Reisner were leading contributors to last season's success. Gulbransen was an All-American performer at Nationals, placing 35th overall out of 291 finishers. Reisner was the runner-up at the NESCAC meet to lead a Jumbo squad that recorded the lowest team score in the 42-year history of the conference meet.
"We're really excited coming into the year," Coach Norton said. "We lost a bunch of guys, but feel like we still have the talent to be at the same level or even higher competitively at the end of the year."
How well the Jumbos can fill in the other starting positions is the key question for the 2026 team.
"We have a lot of talent, a lot of names that haven't necessarily been front and center in years past, but are guys who are very capable of being in good positions sooner rather than later," Coach Norton said.
Avery Smart scored important team points when Tufts was second at the NCAA East Region Championship last November. He is among a large senior class that is looking to step up into bigger leadership roles. Senior
Sam Kurian was Tufts' sixth finisher at the NCAA Regional and was one of 10 Jumbos to cross the finish line among the top 30 overall at NESCAC's. Returning senior
Meba Henok was also one of the Tufts top 10 at NESCAC's, while classmate
Simon Donovan ran with the NESCAC team as well. The Jumbos also welcome the return of senior
Aidan Max, who after missing last cross county season went on to place fourth in the NESCAC 10K during the outdoor track season.
Junior
Gabe Grove was a conference championship race participant last year who returns looking to climb the team ladder. Sophomores
Chris Hovet and
Ben Hester could make more of a mark in their second year on the team.
Tufts' strong depth also includes senior
Ryan Regan, juniors
Lucas Chang,
Lucas Klein and
Liam Lucas and sophomores
Chris Barbato,
William Burch,
Charlie Jacques,
Jack Moretta,
Tadhg Murray,
Will Olsen,
Joey Papanicholas and
Owen Staley.
A freshman class of eight joins the team this year as the Jumbos start 2026 at Middlebury College's Aldrich Invitational on Saturday.
"A lot of guys put in a lot of work over the summer to be able to fill the shoes of the guys who graduated," Coach Norton said. "We think we're really well positioned to continue to be in the mix with a very different group from the group we had last year."
--JUMBOS--
