The senior and team captain had an epic day at the Wesleyan Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 27. Leading the Cards, Blumstein placed fourth overall with a time of 27:00.66 for the 8k race. That’s fast; really fast. The Wesleyan men’s side had seven runners finish within the top 15 in a field of 103 runners. Blumstein chatted about the weekend’s feats.

Dan Latzman: How do you feel about your performance?

Jonah Blumstein: While I wasn’t particularly happy with my race individually—I got fourth when I should have gotten second; I need to be ahead of that Conn duo by the end of the season— the team won, which is far more important.

DL: What do you think was the key to the Wesleyan victory?

JB: I think the key to our victory was our pack. Our 2-7 guys had only 22 seconds between them, which is very small for an 8K (five mile) cross-country race. The fact that we had seven guys in before Conn’s four guy was the reason we won. Yesterday showed how important it is to have good six and seven men. Even though only five guys score in cross country, our six and seven guys displaced Conn’s four and five guys, which added four points to Conn’s score—which more than covers the two-point margin we ultimately won by. Our seven guy on Saturday was Jamie Lawrence [’12,] and the fact that he beat Conn’s four and five guys won us the meet. I’d say he was the hero. I’d say Justin Spring [’10] was another guy who really stepped up. He ran a gutsy race. He was with the front pack for nearly three miles and he managed to hold on the last two miles. He showed us that he’s ready to roll. Finally, Brendan Sheehan [’11] ran strong as well. He puts in the hard work everyday, and it showed in his result.

DL: It was raining all weekend. Did this have implications for running on Saturday?

JB: The conditions were messy — lots of mud, lots of rain. I definitely struggled a little bit with it the last mile and a half, but for the most part it was something I and the rest of the team enjoyed. It was muddy out there for everyone, and bad weather is what real cross country is all about. The worse the weather is, the better this team will do.

Congratulations to Jonah and the entire Cross Country team!