Tri-meet battle with Sherwood and Quince Orchard

By Emily Young

The Boys

The home stretch at Wednesday’s tri-meet at Sherwood turned into an all-out battle for Junior Matt Boden as one of the home team’s runners challenged him to a flat-out sprint to the finish. Boden, undoubtedly one of the most competitive, determined runners in any race, anywhere, accepted the challenge and drained his muscles of every last ounce of energy as he kicked down the final 100 meters of the course in a time of 18:55. It was a thrilling finish, one that seemed almost too close to call, but in the end, the official results favored the Sherwood runner.

Junior Matt Boden

Unfortunately, Boden’s hard-fought journey to the finish, one that ended in an almost-victory, seems to mirror the fortunes of the boys team so far this season. They’ve logged quality miles and workouts, they’ve stayed late at practice to do extra stretching and circuit drills, and they’ve endured the pain of regular ice baths, yet they seem to be falling just short of victory on the course. The boys have been missing key returner Sophomore Sam Baker due to double stress fractures, and they were also noticeably without Senior Nick McGreivy on Wednesday (McGreivy reluctantly withheld himself from the race in an effort to control a nagging IT band issue). For one reason or another, things just haven’t fallen into place. There have been glimpses of greatness and big things to come, but they have yet to deliver their piece de resistance—that perfect moment when all of their efforts culminate in a beautiful, expectation-defying race, one that surprises their opponents but only reaffirms to themselves what they already know—they are capable of greatness.

Juniors Peter Horton and Alex Riishojgaard

Despite their growing frustration, there were a number of reasons to celebrate on Wednesday, including an individual win by Junior Peter Horton, his first ever cross country victory in 17:13, and a strong race by Junior Alex Riishojgaard, who finished just a few seconds behind Horton (17:18). Junior Nolan Ebner also showed that he is capable of hanging with the top pack as he pulled off a 4^th place overall finish in 17:31.  Ebner passed three runners in the last 800 meters and finished just two seconds behind Sherwood’s number one runner.

A secondary pack of boys has also emerged and shown they are figuring out the five kilometer race as they continue to inch closer to spots on the varsity squad.  The group, Leul Assamenew (20:24), Liam McGowan (20:53), Kyle Nakasaka (20:56), Conrad Jones (21:18) and Thomas Mackell (21:26), seem to be improving with each race.  Mackell’s time was good for a personal record by 30 seconds on a course which was deceptively challenging with many rolling hills.

The Girls

Sophomore Kat McNeill and Freshman Abigail Levine

The girls came away from Wednesday with two more divisional wins. Sophomore Caroline Beakes claimed another individual victory in 20:34 (despite having to retrace her steps after a wrong turn…), and Sophomore Nora McUmber inched her way up throughout the race to finish a close second in 20:37. Sophomore Kat McNeill (21:38) and Freshman Marie Caspard (21:42) each made their official racing debuts this season, finishing as the Barons’ 5^th and 6^th runners respectively. Freshman Abigail Levine (21:43) rounded out the top 7, crossing the line just over a minute after Beakes. Senior Laura Nakasaka (20:51) and Sophomore Abby Fry (21:16) also turned in impressive performances as B-CC’s 3^rd and 4^th runners.

Junior Amanda Cohen and Freshman Lily O'Dowd

Like the boys, the girls have a strong pack of runners, including three more freshmen, improving quickly and hoping to earn a varsity spot in the near future.  Lily O’Dowd (22:56), Amanda Cohen (22:59), and Lauren Kronheim (23:13) finished in 16^th, 17^th and 18^th overall respectively, with teammates Annie Sharkey (24:05), Vanessa Shu (24:10) and Emily Hardgrove (24:17) close behind.

The teams look forward to the Oatlands Invitational this Saturday where over 100 schools and almost 5,000 runners will compete in one of the most competitive meets of the season.