Boys' XC Edged Out by NMH Squad
After a hard-fought, aggressive race, boys’ cross country suffered a disappointing loss to the Northfield Mount Hermon School last Saturday at home. The outcome marked NMH’s first victory over Exeter since 2011; it served as a wakeup call, athletically and otherwise, for Big Red’s team.
“We stepped up to the line with two of our varsity runners injured and one out of commission.”
Held over Family Weekend, the race was the first one this season on Exeter’s home course. The spectator turnout was thus considerably larger than usual; some runners cited that as the reason for the team’s determination in the face of adversity. “We stepped up to the line with two of our varsity runners injured and one out of commission,” said senior and co-captain Grayson Derossi. “But still, we were ready to compete.”
Exeter took control of the race from the gunshot; the entire team went out ahead of any of Northfield Mount Herman’s runners. Big Red maintained its position until the end of the first half mile, at which point NMH’s lead pack surged to the front. And so began the most intense struggle for front-pack dominance of the season thus far. “In the heat of battle,” Derossi recounted, “our fastest runner, Will Coogan, tripped and sprained his ankle. But he fought on; so did the rest of us. We pulled our sweat-slicked bodies forward stride by stride: through the field, up the hill, and into the final sprint.” Upper Charlie Neuhaus acknowledged that victory wasn’t the only motivating factor in the drama unfolding at the front of the race. “Northfield Mount Hermon’s #1 runner sported a very unstylish man-bun,” he said. “That inspired our athletes to chase him down.”
Despite Exeter’s valiant efforts, man-buns reigned supreme on Saturday; the final score was 33-22 for NMH. Neuhaus called the result a “disappointment.” Derossi agreed, but asserted that “on a better day, with no injuries and full pots, we could have won.”
Lower Ian Rider clarified that though Exeter lost the race, every member of the team gained something unexpected. “The score was disheartening,” he said. “But the meet, surprisingly, served as an artistic inspiration. We have all been enlightened.” According to Rider, that enlightenment manifests itself best in the speech of the lowers and uppers on the team, who have found themselves speaking exclusively in verse and vague metaphors since crossing the finish line. In response to a request for a description of the race, upper Jimmy Liu simply said:
“Roses are red, racecars go zoom, Connor Chen got beat by Varun.”
Liu’s teammates proved equally enlightened. Lower Jimmy Allen insisted that to understand the race, one had to understand that “toss means something different in a salad.”
Upper Jed Breen simply said: “I love smoothies, but I didn’t enjoy being mashed up and put in the blender on Saturday. I will never love a smoothie again.”
The artistic shift of the team was most evident in a statement from Neuhaus, who realized the following at the finish.
“I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you lose a cross country race. First of all, that one second isn’t a second at all. It stretches on forever, like an ocean of time. It’s lying on my back at Newbould’s house, getting pummeled by Liam and Ari. And yellow leaves from the maple trees that lined his yard. Grayson’s hands and the way his skin seemed like paper. And Connor. And Connor. And Varun. It’s hard to stay mad when there’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once and it’s too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst. And then I remember to relax and stop trying to hold on to it. And then it flows through me like rain, and I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little race. You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure. But don’t worry: you will someday.”
Boys’ cross country next faces Deerfield this Saturday; they hope to bring their newfound art to the start of that race and pick up a win on the road.