BXC Wins First Dual Meet of Season
Rolling off the coach bus overlooking the Northfield Mountains, the Exeter boys’ cross-country team prepares to take on Northfield Mount Hermon’s (NMH) nearly undefeated team. After a tough two and a half hour bus ride, the boys were ready to take on the course notorious for its hills. After completing the grueling five kilometer course, members of the team were exhausted, but smiled when they looked at the scoreboard. The Exeter boys came out on top after a tough loss last year. Big Red outlasted NMH with a close varsity win of 25-32, and an impressive, junior varsity win of 15-50.
The two invitationals before this week’s dual meet were good preparation for the runners. “[Public] schools are really fast and gave us a lot of competition, which I think prepared us well,” senior and co-captain Charlie Neuhaus said.
Although runners in dual meets can often get spread out and people end up running alone, it was not the case at this race. Neuhaus said that, “some of our runners were competing directly with an NMH pack for a lot of the race.” Despite having to get up early for the PSATs and then prepare to race immediately after, “the team was well rested from their dip week, which focused on speed-oriented workouts [rather than] intense training volume,” senior and co-captain John Martel said.
Upper EJ Porras commented on the team’s mindset going into the meet. “Since this was the first league meet and we are heading into the heart of our schedule, the mindset was a lot more serious,” he said.
NMH is one of the best teams in the league, so going into the race, each runner knew they had to run their best race for the team to win. “NMH is a stiff competition for the Interschols title so we knew this was going to be a good fight, as well as a chance to measure up against a solid team in our league,” Martel said.
Neuhaus agreed with co-captain Martel, saying, “The fact that we won by a pretty good margin is a good confidence-booster for us going forward.”
“I feel like everyone in the race really stood out and played their part within the team,” upper Lenny Chen said. During the tough race, the underclassmen really stood out from the pack. Neuhaus applauded prep Bradley St. Laurent. “I was impressed with the performance of Bradley St. Laurent. This was his first time running varsity against a varsity team of almost all seniors, and he stuck with and competed with NMH’s number five senior,” he said.
Multiple team members also recognized standout runner, lower Andrew Luke. Luke ran a personal record, which not only placed him eighth overall but also moved him up in the ranks of the Exeter team to fifth place.
The boys’ cross-country team is arguably one of the closest teams on campus. Despite being injured for the majority of the season, prep Charlie Falivena still feels connected to the team regardless of missing practices. “The team dynamic is one of the reasons I still enjoy running cross-country,” Falivena stated. “Even though we’re separated into 6 groups based on times, I feel like everyone on the team is connected.”
The boys work hard to create a close-knit environment, which brings the team to success at each race. “I’ve been a part of more teams than I can count, but none has felt as much like a family as this one,” senior Jed Breen said.
The team is excited to host its upcoming race this Saturday against Deerfield at its home course. “I always love running on our home course.” Neuhaus said before adding, “It’s also parents weekend, so we should have a pretty good crowd.”
Being the first home meet of the season, the team is confident that they will continue to produce outstanding performances. “A lot of us will set some new PRs heading into the rest of the season,” Porras predicted.
Additionally, Big Red is hopeful that they could win the championship at Interschols this year. Neuhaus looks back on last season’s results, saying, “Last season we had to rebuild from heavy losses, but we’ve had a lot of runners develop really well.”
“Exeter’s cross-country program has always been one of the strongest in the league, and that’s really showing this season,” Neuhaus added. Martel remains focused on not being over confident. “Sweeping NMH was a good start, but I’m sure they’ll keep improving throughout the season, as will everyone else,” he said.
Because of the past few successful races and the team’s commendable results, the runners are looking to sustain their momentum. Porras commented on this by saying, “We’re in a really good position, and we’ll continue to grind until we reach our goal.”