The boys and girls cross country teams continue to push and work hard , under the leadership of the standout captains and upperclassmen. .
On Saturday, Oct. 5, the boys and girls cross country teams hosted Westminster School and Williston Northampton School in their home opener. For the boys team Head Coach Fritz Goodman said he believed the team performed tremendously. “Every person on the team had a personal best for the season,” Coach Goodman said. He was particularly proud of senior Co-captain Ethan Pinkes, who came in second place in the invitational, losing by one second. The boys team fell short in this meet. The girls team also saw great improvement in their meet. “All seven of our runners were able to crush their season bests and October goals,” Head Coach Tricia Watson said. She said that she was really proud of how hard her team ran. The girls cross country team also finished third in this race.
Both the boys and girls cross country teams traveled to Pomfret School on Saturday, Oct. 12, in an effort to ruin Pomfret’s homecoming. Both teams did just that. The boys team was able to win the race. Going into the meet, Coach Goodman and his team knew that Pomfret’s fastest runner was exceptional. That meant that the Wyverns had to run in packs and hope to displace Pomfret’s runners; that means not allowing them to finish first and second, third and fourth, or simply back to back. “Our second and third place runners have been working closely and our third, fourth, and fifth have been very close so our team has been getting much better results,” Pinkes said.
The girls team also was able to get a win against Pomfret. “Everyone had a great race and worked their hardest on the difficult course,” sophomore Captain Stella Risinger said. She also spoke about how amazing it was to see her teammate, sophomore Ashleigh Stepnowski, set the course record. “Pomfret was a brand new course, which means whoever won the race set the course record,” Risinger said. “Ashleigh knew this too, and even with the added pressure she pushed herself from the start and came in before anyone else, which was awesome!”
Both Coach Goodman and Coach Watson said they are very proud of their teams’ improvement. Coach Goodman pushed his team to set reasonable goals, go about doing everything possible to achieve those goals, and so far his team has done just that. Coach Watson said that even though her team is really young, as it doesn’t contain a single senior, it still has great leadership and loves to compete. But they still have a lot of fun. “The fun thing about a small team is that everyone knows each other very well,” Risinger said, “and we know each other’s goal times, and other things we are working on so we can support each other as we reach those goals, and celebrate when we hit them.”
The boys cross country team hosted Wilbraham and Monson Academy Son Hewett day, which was Saturday, Oct. 19. The girls team also competed against Wilbraham and Monson in addition to Suffield Academy.
This meet also acted as senior day for the three seniors, Pinkes, Co-captain William Burstein, and Elán Stadelmann. Coach Goodman praises these seniors with setting the tone for the team. “No team is allowed to work harder than we do,” Coach Goodman said. “I think my seniors have been a great example to the underclassmen.” Coach Goodman also wants the seniors to know that they are part of something bigger. “At the end of the season I want them to know they are a part of a continuing legacy,” said Coach Goodman. “And I want them to feel as though they’ve done everything they can to continue the legacy for the younger kids.” The next meet will be on Saturday, Oct. 26, at Williston Northampton School. The boys are preparing for the championship season.
