Girls' Cross Country Defeats Deerfield
Rain beat the dirt and swelled in pools on the trails of the Exeter woods as runners hurdled gaping puddles and left their opponents splattered in the mud of their wake. Last Saturday was one of the most aggressive conditions that the Exeter Girls Cross Country team has competed in this season- including the hills of NMH and the mobs of runners at Codfish Bowl. Yet again, despite mother nature’s wrath, Exeter prevailed and took home another win.
In contrast to some of their previous competition, Deerfield posed a greater challenge purely due to the talent on their team. Deerfield has been known for their highly competitive and historically successful cross country program, so the girls came prepared to meet this challenge.
Exeter expected a battle out of Deerfield, and that’s what they got. Deerfield’s top runner was a prospective Exeter student, but instead chose to go to Deerfield Academy. Senior Joanna Papadakis said, “She was good competition for our top runners, but both Christine [Hu] and Yoshiko [Lynch] ran great races and she ended up placing third.”
Although the talent from Deerfield was fierce, there was another factor aiding the Exeter runners. This was their first home race in a while, which was highly advantageous. Knowing your own course can be very helpful, especially considering the given weather conditions. Upper Kate Lu explained, “Deerfield was strong as a team and they had a lot of great runners, but since we were racing at home we had the advantage.” Because of this, parts of the race were in Exeter’s control.
“We have gotten better at racing with each other as a team; there is a new sense of support and competition to PR integrated with our goal of running in groups. It has most definitely pushed me to run harder than I ever have before.”
Lower Gracy Gray said that although she felt prepared going into the meet, “What I love about racing is that something crazy can always happen. All we can do is give it our best effort and see how it plays out.” Although the team had prepared to face the difficulty of Deerfield, the weather was a surprise to both teams. The one who could take advantage of the rain the best would have the power to win, and that’s exactly what Exeter did; take advantage.
Papadakis mentioned a piece of advice that they were given by their captain Sarah Brown before the race. “She had advised us all to go straight through the puddles so that we don’t slow down,” Papadakis said.
Upper Sara Kopunova added another example of how Exeter took advantage of their home course. “There is a hill near the end which is a prime spot to speed up and pass a few people. I think Exeter handled that well,” she said.
Beyond the physical conditions of the course, Papadakis noticed teamwork as an outstanding quality in this race. “We have gotten better at racing with each other as a team; there is a new sense of support and competition to PR integrated with our goal of running in groups. It has most definitely pushed me to run harder than I ever have before,” she said.
In addition to helping the Exeter runners, the weather conditions actually made the race more fun, according to some. Lu commented, “It was super wet and cold on Saturday, but that actually made the race so much more fun!” Gray echoed, “It was really great to have another race on our course, and the puddles in the trails made for a fun race.”
With only the Exeter/Andover meet remaining before the big Interscholastic race on November 12, the team sets their sights on taking down the blue, and they encourage people to come out and support them since it will be a home meet. Good luck to the girls as they carry on their undefeated legend.