Boy' XC Cruises Past Rival Andover, Stays Undefeated

ANDOVER, MA - On a brisk and sunny New England Saturday, boys’ cross country dominated yet again with a decisive victory over Andover in their Exeter/Andover match. It was a dual meet, with Andover running nine men on their varsity team and Exeter running only seven. Yet Big Red still came out with five out of the top seven finishes, adding another triumph to their undefeated season.“The race went very well. We reaffirmed our dominance on Saturday, and it was a great win to have going into Interschols next week,” senior co-captain TJ Hodges said.Andover was by no means an easy opponent—PA has been rapidly advancing their times and training for an end-of-season push.“Andover’s second runner has definitely improved over the season, yesterday he came just behind Tyler Courville ‘14, Exeter’s first place runner,” Hodges said. “Despite a great performance by Andover’s top two runners, Exeter pulled ahead by finishing our next five runners without an Andover runner crossing the line.”Throughout the season, the cross country team has fluctuated between different practice routines. Some days they work on increased distance and others days they focus on speed and sprinting. While heading into Interschols, the team is planning a less strenuous routine to keep their bodies in great shape for the race.“Next week we will start tapering,” Hodges said. “It will be a week of low mileage and few workouts, but we will all be primed for Saturday’s big race.”Whatever training program Big Red follows, it must be working, because Exeter cross country has grown tremendously as a team and as individual runners.“Our pack held together for much longer than it had in the past, I think, and we really showed the depth and the dominance of our team,” upper Quincy Tichenor said of Saturday’s race.“Our team has shown tremendous ability and improvement over the course of the season, both individually and as a whole,” Tichenor continued. “We now have two runners who have gone under 16 minutes and eight who have gone under 17.”All of the runners’ dedication and effort will pay off this weekend, when they head to Interschols. Like always, they are expecting tough and determined teams that desire the title just as much as they do. But the team is confident in their ability to run their hearts out.“We have optimistic feelings going into Interschols, but we are still just as hungry for a championship as any other team in the league,” Hodges said. “We’ve prepared and performed extremely well during the season. Now it’s all about finishing strong with every ounce of strength we have, and that’s something that each of us is fully prepared to do.”Tichenor agreed, acknowledging that only a few more things need to be enhanced before the race in order to finish out the boys’ undefeated season with a championship title.“We’ve gone undefeated all season, and if we tighten up the spread of our finishes, we can be the most formidable opponents New England has seen since the British, but hopefully even more so,” Tichenor said.