The 2024-2025 Kingswood Oxford boys and girls cross country teams are putting together a fun and exciting season, led by Head Coaches Tricia Watson and Fritz Goodman.
The teams competed in a handful of smaller races during October, between early-season invitationals and later championship meets. On Oct. 5, the team traveled to Williston Northampton School for a tri-meet against Williston and Westminster. The KO boys beat the Westminster team but fell short of a victory over Williston, while the girls beat out Williston and lost to Westminster. Although the team had been training hard all week, with a high temperature of 77°F, many runners’ finish times fell short of their expectations.
On their Oct. 11 Hewett Day home race, the Wyverns were ready to take on the Pomfret School at the West Hartford Reservoir. Some of the standout performances on the boys team included a near two-minute Personal Record by freshman Andy Shen, and junior Matthew Habeeb finishing in under 20 minutes for the first time. On the girls side, freshman Emily Paseos dropped a ton of time, setting a new PR after a strong race. Also, this was the first completed race for some of the freshmen on the girls team, an incredible feat accomplished at a home race! At the end of the combined race, both teams came out victorious. The boys won 38-23, and the girls won 40-20. Both substantial wins were a big boost in morale for the teams.
The following weekend, the Wyverns ventured to Wilbraham and Monson Academy. That week, the team had begun training for late-season races with hill repeats, a workout that gave KO a leg up in the woodsy hills at WMA.
The Wyverns began their championship season with a strong performance at the Shaler Invitational, an annual race held at Williston. Having already run the course, KO runners headed into the race with confidence and preparedness. Thanks to a first-place finish from senior Co-captain Claire Palmer, who also set a new course record, and two “packs” of Wyverns crossing the finish line together, the girls team earned third place. This victory was exciting because the girls beat out Westminster, a team they had previously lost to. Leading the boys team to a seventh place finish, junior Co-captain Leo Ladewig came in ninth place, with the rest of KO’s top five scorers finishing within 30 seconds of each other. Seeing this pack successfully compete together is a testament to the collaborative spirit present on the team.
The cross country teams would not be doing as well without their strong leadership, a lot of which is coming from Ladewig and Palmer. “This year I have stepped up as a leader by becoming team captain,” Palmer said. “This position requires me to set a good example for the younger runners and show them the importance of having a proper mindset.” As cross country is a very mental game, it is important for Palmer to express this. On the other hand, Ladewig is a leader by working as hard as possible every practice. He always wants to be the first to finish because it pushes the rest of the team to compete just as hard.
The cross country team has a few meets left and will continue to push themselves as much as possible headed into Founders League and NEPSTA Championships. The teams are proud of the work they have put in and how far they have gone to become such a strong and competitive team, and are excited to continue exhibiting this in the final two meets of the season.
