BXC Ferociously Fights for Fifth
This past Saturday, boys’ cross country placed 5th in the Black Bear Invitational at Coe Brown Academy. Racing against fifteen other local schools, the team used this race to regroup after its disappointing loss to St. Paul’s the previous Wednesday.
Optimal conditions allowed the boys to focus on tackling a tough course. “Life was autumnal in nearby Coe brown. The course was intensely hilly with people swarming all over it,” upper Jiro Mizuno said.
The meet was a good opportunity to race against teams outside of the NEPSTA league. Usually, the team’s season consists of a handful of small dual meets before the Interscholastic Championships, but this year, the boys have been traveling to larger meets with stiffer competition. With the Maine Festival of Champions and the Black Bear Invitational under their belts, the boys have valuable racing experience that will benefit them at the season-ending championship meet.
With tougher opponents, the team expects more competitive races. “I’d like to note how close the scoring was,” upper Issay Matsumoto said. “The 3rd and 4th place teams edged us out by 2 and 4 points respectively.”
“Although we weren’t first, everyone ran really well, and we’re feeling pretty confident again after our vicious defeat to St. Paul’s on Wednesday.”
A lot of the team’s inspiration to race hard came from the runners who graduated in 2014 and 2015. Mizuno, who had a particularly fast “kick” at the end of his race, gave credit to a teammate who graduated in the spring. “I was imagining myself to be Randal Hernandez [‘15],” he said.
All in all, the race was an exciting way to end to another week of training, and the boys came away with more experience that will be useful in the future. “Although we weren’t first, everyone ran really well, and we’re feeling pretty confident again after our vicious defeat to St. Paul’s on Wednesday,” Mizuno said.
The meet also had more to offer than just a tough course and good competition. The refreshments Coe Brown Academy provided, in particular, were appreciated by the athletes. Upper Isaac Fingerson said, “Coe Brown’s donuts were great.”
Moving forward, the boys will have their one and only home meet this Saturday during Family Weekend. The team is motivated to set PRs on Exeter’s fast course and to start up another streak of wins. “We’re looking forward to destroying NMH this weekend, and hopefully people will come watch us,” Mizuno said.