By Will Stark
Last Tuesday, the Varsity Boys Cross Country team wrapped up their regular season with a league meet win against Sweet Home; for many of the seniors, it was a bittersweet experience. Reflecting on the experience, seniors Dan Costello and Brady Miller agreed that it was “painful”. Cross-country tends to do that. Overall, though, the team agreed that it was a great season.
Cross Country is a really cool sport in that there are no subs. It’s both a team sport and a single-person sport: every player counts. Everyone scores for their team, because getting in front of the other guy means a better outcome for the team. While it is a race against others, it’s also a race against yourself. Everyone is fighting for a better time each race, and knowing you’re performing to your best gives satisfaction no other kind of victory can give. It’s rewarding to look back on old times and seeing the difference, even if it’s just a second or two. In the end, that’s what cross country is all about; improving your times and yourself.
The season kicked off the first Friday of September with the Dash in the Dark Invitational at Oakfield-Alabama High School. Several meets followed, including the East Aurora Invitational, McQuaid in Rochester, and the Alden Bulldog Stampede. For the boys team, the main highlight of the season was undoubtedly the victory at Town of Amherst. Town of Amherst is a smackdown between Amherst, Sweet Home, Williamsville South, and Williamsville East, the defending champions. After a good race, our own Dan Costello finished in first, and East was able to hold onto the trophy for another year. Many described it as the highlight of the season, and for the seniors, it was the capstone for their final season running XC for East.
Many on the team are seniors, including Brady Miller, Aryaman Chutke, Dan Costello, and Andrew Rosenow. They said that Cross Country was–albeit painful–a lot of fun, messing around, and pushing themselves and each other. Andrew Rosenow, a senior who has been running for the team since his sophomore year, said, “Running in cross country for the last 3 years has been a fun experience. The feeling of when you narrow down your times every meet cannot be matched anywhere else”. Despite the difficulty of track workouts, time trials, long tempo runs, and some injuries that have been dubbed as “slacking”, it’s still something that they enjoy because of the experience.
Although the regular season is over, the team is looking forward to the final extra-season meets. The whole team is training for ECICs, while the top seven are preparing for Sectionals. They have high hopes for the meets, and we wish them luck as they run.
