The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic effect on many Kingswood Oxford athletes during the fall season. Although the pandemic has caused a cancellation of many fall sports, Kingswood Oxford teams still found ways to work around it to have a great fall season. Senior boys cross country Captain Matthew Bzowyckyj has fought through these challenging times and has led his team through a confusing yet successful season.
Bzowyckyj was really looking forward to having a great season of running, as he trained in the summer to get faster and stronger. “I trained very hard over the whole summer,” Bzowyckyj said. “Especially in August, I would go on runs almost every single day.”
Another big part of Bzowyckyj’s cross country season is the competition against other teams. He really loves running, representing Kingswood Oxford and winning against other schools. “Obviously, I was really looking forward to being able to run against other teams and actually having meets,” he said. “Knowing that the pandemic might have closed down the school at any time, I’m really happy that we were able to have a complete season and actually have a virtual meet.”
Thankfully, the boys team did manage to have a cross country meet before the end of the season. A virtual meet was held towards the end of their season, and it was against a few schools, including Loomis and Trinity-Pawling. Each school would plot a course on their campus, and all the times were uploaded to see how everyone did, just like a real meet.
The team trained very hard for this meet, wanting to give it their all because it was their only competition of the season. “We practiced, to the best of our ability, just like we would have in a normal season,” Bzowyckyj said. “It was definitely more difficult due to the new rules and time constraints. What we actually ran for practice was determined by the day.” Bzowyckyj went on to explain that Mondays were usually long run days, while Tuesdays were reserved for a shorter but fast-paced workout called “hamburgers.” On Wednesdays, the team would head to the West Hartford Reservoir, and Thursdays held longer meetings filled with quick sprints at the end due to limited time. Fridays varied from week to week but usually included a faster workout around the turf.
Bzowyckyj did end up having a great season, as he made many great memories and experiences with his teammates. Bzowyckyj mentioned the highlight of his season. “Running up to the viewpoint at the Reservoir was definitely the highlight of my season,” he said. “It was the middle of fall, so it was really cool to be able to see the countryside for miles. It is also a tradition of cross country to run there at least once, so I was really happy to be able to run there with a few teammates.”
As of right now, he is not sure what his plans are in college. He has not decided if he wants to run cross country as a club sport in college yet. If he decides to run in college, he mentioned he will be training in the winter, spring, and summer to prepare for cross country in college.
During this tough season, Bzowyckyj stepped up to the plate as captain, and he guided the team to a successful season. “As captain, I really tried to keep practices as efficient as possible so that we could fit in everything that we wanted to do,” he said, “as well as reminding people to wear masks and stay socially distant when they sometimes forgot.” Bzowyckyj explained that in past seasons the team would meet in cross country Head Coach Fritz Goodman’s classroom to talk about practices and future goals. “When we had more time, we brought those meetings back to give the practices some sense of normalcy while also using it to be efficient and telling everyone what we wanted to accomplish that day,” Bzowyckyj said.
Bzowyckyj hopes that he has taught his team many lessons and has left an impact on them so they can have successful seasons in the future. “I hope that they learned that no matter what happens, they should just keep their heads up and keep on running” he said. “Whether it be as small as getting a cramp in the middle of a race, or having a season in the middle of a pandemic, just stay tough and keep running, because that finish line is ahead. It feels amazing to cross that finish line knowing that you gave it your all and that you didn’t let any challenge stand in the way of you finishing.” Bzowyckyj has had a major positive impact on the boys cross country team, and he is hoping to keep running cross country in the future.
