Boys' Cross Country Completes 3-Peat, Undefeated Season

CONCORD, NH - While Big Red battled with Andover at Exeter this past Saturday, Boy’s Cross Country topped off their perfect season with a decisive victory at Interschols. The race was held at St. Paul's School, where all the best teams of New England come with the intent of winning a New England Championship. Exeter prevailed once again, winning for the third year in a row.“Although Exonians may have been shackled to the stadium seats and the poolside benches by tradition, we knew at whom their cheers were aimed, and the results are clear,” Upper Quincy Tichenor said. “Exeter Cross country proved who the real skinny men of New England are. Venimus, Cucurrimus, Vicimus: We came, we ran, we conquered.”Although all Big Red runners performed exceedingly well, the championship race started out slow for some of the team.“Our top three runners, Tyler Courville, Sam Gray, and Quincy Tichenor, ran with the intent to win the race, and they finished 3, 5, and 6th respectively," senior co-captain TJ Hodges said. "Holden Hammontree, John Kennealy and I held back in the first couple of miles, running about 30 seconds slower than usual, and then we started picking a ton of guys off in the last mile. Holden ended up finishing in 11th place, I finished in 19th, and John in 21st."In a field of so many competitors, it is surprising how successful Exeter is time and time again. Entering the fall of 2013, Big Red was expecting a great term, but their record truly exceeded all prospects. This season, runners like Quincy Tichenor and Holden Hammontree, who were on junior varsity in 2012, emerged from the middle of the pack to become key components of the team’s dynamic. Exeter also experimented with different weekly workout routines to keep the runners on their feet.In respect to the Exeter’s achievement in cross country, Hodges points to the effort put forth day in and day out by all members, which included additional runs in the mornings.“Our season didn't start in early September; it started in June, when each of us woke every morning and ran before the sun was up. It continued at 6:00 on school mornings, when we met in front of Wetherall so that we could get two runs in each day, instead of one,” he said.The determination of the team was evident during the season and at the start of every competition.“Before every race we huddled at the start line and promised to honor our competitors by giving them every ounce of speed we had, and then we screamed out the greatest verse in running, ‘ache te vitu,“ said Hodges.All in all, Big Red graced through all races with a confidence and skill that no other school seemed to possess. The close-knit group of boys retains something special that is rare to find else ware, and that will be hard to ever duplicate again.“We pushed each other and stuck together because we had a mission, and a legacy, to fulfill. Eventually our streak will end, but when it does, as long as the future harriers of cross country remember that it is the team, and not the individual, that wins the race, Exeter Cross Country and ‘ache te vitu’ will continue to champion running each day,” Hodges said.