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Jumbo Men's Cross Country Team Looks to Reach Full Potential at NCAA Championship Race
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| One of New England's top
runners all year, junior Matt Rand leads the Jumbos into the
national race on Saturday |
MEDFORD - Earning the program's first NCAA Championship Race berth in four seasons is a great achievement for the 2011 Tufts men's cross country team. However, the Jumbos still don't think they've hit their stride as a group and will look to do so at Nationals on Saturday in Winnesconne, Wisconsin.
"Finishing in the top half would be nice, but I think we are capable of a top 10 finish," said junior Matt Rand. "We haven't raced to our full potential all season. Now is the time for us to pull everything together and show the country what we are capable of."
Sophomore teammate Brian McLaughlin agrees.
"We've been a little disappointed with how the past two races have panned out," he said. "We know we can hang with the big teams in our region, but we haven't been able to prove it. At Nationals, we'll be aiming to make the big statement we've been shooting for all season."
Rand and McLaughlin went 1-2 for the Jumbos at the NCAA Regional Championship hosted by Bowdoin last Saturday. Tufts finished fifth out of 48 teams, good enough to earn an at-large berth into the NCAA Championship field. The other starting runners at Nationals for Tufts will be junior Kyle Marks (Carmel, IN), sophomore Liam Cassidy (Brunswick, ME), senior Connor Rose (Irvine, CA), sophomore Andrew Shapero (Laguna Beach, CA) and sophomore Ben Wallis (Dover, NH). The Jumbo alternate will be junior Sam Haney (Essex, CT).
The national championship race will take place at Lake Breeze Golf Course in Winneconne starting at 12 noon CT. On a mostly flat course, the Jumbos will look to feed off each other in order to bring out their best.
"We ran a work-out on the indoor track the weekend before Regionals that was basically a two-mile time trial," McLaughlin said. "We worked off of each other the whole way and each of us either came close to or improved our best two-mile time. That was the first time this season we realized what we could do as a pack, and we definitely want to bring that sentiment with us to Nationals."
Rand, who has led the Jumbos all year and was third at the regional championship, is expected to be the leader of the pack. He'll be aiming for the first individual All-American honor of his cross country career, which goes to the top 35 finishers.
"I know I'm capable of a top-35 finish if I run a smart race," he said. "At Regionals, I ran the first 200 meters too quickly and it affected me later in the race. If I keep the pace in control early on and push the middle miles, I think I'll end up where I want to be near the end."
As usual, other members of the Jumbo men's and women's cross country and track & field teams will be on hand to lend their support. Approximately 75 were at Bowdoin last weekend, and around 40 are expected to travel by van out to Wisconsin.
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