At a team gathering and fund-raiser in Mamma Lucia’s restaurant Thursday night, just past the mid-point of the B-CC cross-country season, several runners talked about important moments for them this year. A sampling:
Conrad Jones, a sophomore: “Everything came together for me at Bull Run, which is one of the most difficult and interesting courses. I didn’t end up running my fastest race, but I felt like I was running one of my best races. There were lots of challenging hills and lots of people that you have to pass. Finishing Bull Run is very gratifying. It’s immensely gratifying. You feel like you have overcome one of the most difficult courses.”
Sarah Bien, sophomore: “My practice today on the track was the most important. I did a normal workout instead of a newcomer workout. In the beginning of the year, I really struggled with the easy workout (which could be two 500-meter runs). I feel like I’m really running much longer and much faster now.”
Greg Picard, junior: “The most meaningful moment for me was when I was elected captain. The team means so much to me, and they gave me an opportunity to be a leader this year. It’s made me proud that we are doing so well now. To me, being a captain means you are a role model. You have to lead by example. My goal is to inspire the younger runners to come back next year. Usually, many freshmen don’t return after their first year. But I want to make them fall in love with the sport. So far, so good. We have a very enthusiastic bunch of young runners and I’m proud of all of them.”
Shayna Nash, junior: “My best moment was when Coach said that I had worked really hard so they took me to the Paul Short race. It was really important to me. Even though the hard work wasn’t paying off in races, it got me little brownie points.”
Alison Thomas, senior (who is injured with a stress fracture in her ankle): “I’ve been injured most of the year, but I ran Bull Run. I stopped for a second during the race and my teammate Susannah (Derr) also stopped right in front of me. Coach Young told me to go over to her. Susannah told me, ‘Alison, we need to finish this race.’ It may be the hardest race I ran in cross country. But I had nothing to lose. So I ran the last mile and a half. I was slow, but I needed to prove to myself that could do it.”
Aidan Hennessey, senior: “My last meet was the best because the person who normally beats me (Nolan Ebner) didn’t. The race was like just keeping your eye focused ahead. It was constantly being in the moment. I didn’t worry about the what ifs. Now I feel much more comfortable in the races.”
And then there were freshmen Annie McElvein and Kat McNeill, sitting next to each other at the restaurant. They talked about their favorite moments in a back-and-forth dialogue.
McElvein: “The Dip. That was the moment. The Dip is in the Bull Run course. This is what I’ve been training for. There are a lot of stories behind it. A lot of upperclassmen talked about how hard it is.”
McNeill: “It’s a decline and then it’s a climb up. And you do it twice.”
McElvein: “Yeah, twice. When I was walking it beforehand, it looked really hard. But running it was easy.”
McNeill: “It was helpful for everyone to say it was terrible because it was easier than it sounded.”
McElvein: “Honestly, I didn’t think it was that bad. Everyone said, you die on the Dip. I didn’t die on the Dip.”
McNeill: “Neither did I.”
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