Cross Country Sweeps at Interschols
This past weekend, Big Red Cross Country sweeped at Interschols, with girls’ varsity, boys’ varsity and boys’ JV all claiming first-place wins and girls JV coming in second.
The girls’ team had their eyes set on a win from the get-go. Senior and co-captain Maddie Machado explained, “We had high expectations going into this meet, as varsity had won Interschols in 2016 and 2018, and JV had won in 2016, 2017 and 2018.”
The boys’ team held similar expectations after a nearly undefeated season. “We went into the race strongly favored to win, but after last year and our tragic loss to NMH by a single point, we were not taking anything for granted,” lower Bradley St. Laurent said.
Knowing Big Red was a conspicuous contender, the runners were determined to live up to their name. “We knew we had a target on our back. Regardless of the success earlier in the season, we had our work cut out for us,” upper Gia Pisano said.
The girls prepared for the meet by doing special workouts that put them in top condition. “We spent the week before Interschols doing recovery runs, some cross-training and short track workouts so that our legs would be rested,” lower Lindsay Machado said.
Despite several challenges along the NMH course including daunting hills and infamous mud pits, the team pushed through. “We arrived at NMH Friday afternoon, and spent some time on the course looking at the hills, muddy areas and best places to speed up and pass people,” M. Machado said.
The boys’ varsity team faced several additional challenges in the beginning of the race. “Our varsity race went totally off the rails at the beginning— [Laurent] fell and [upper Varun Oberai] had a rough start—but everyone fought hard until the end and brought it around,” upper Phil Horrigan said.
A strategy that helped the girls’ team attain their excellent overall placing was pack-racing, according to Pisano. “One of the team’s greatest strengths is our ability to race in packs. We pull and push each other along the way, and I think that was the key to our success this season,” she said.
The boys’ team also used this strategy to push through the rocky hills, which required a cooperative team effort. “I think out of everyone there, Exeter was the one school who knew how to handle the pain as a team effort,” senior Jack Liu said. “We’ve spent all season honing our pack together, and it was the key to our success at Interschols.”
All the hard work that the girls’ and boys’ teams put into training this season certainly shone through last s weekend. M. Machado voiced her pride in the successes of her teammates, saying, “I’m really impressed with the depth that [the team] showed: we placed five varsity runners in the top 20 and all ten JV runners in the top 20 of their race.”
Overall, all seven varsity runners placed in the top thirty of a field of about 100 competitors to finish ahead of Windsor by a big margin of 44-114. On the JV team, the girls finished just a few points behind Andover to claim second overall with a close score of 26-30.
The boys’ varsity and JV teams also displayed dominance in their races, with all varsity runners placing in the top twenty to win first place with a thirty point margin over Andover. The winning didn’t stop there: the boys’ JV team brought home a perfect score of 15, sweeping the competition by claiming the first five spots.
Horrigan recounted the emotions and celebration that took place at the finish line after both varsity and JV scored victories. “I will never forget the overflow of emotions at the finish line. We had guys crying, everyone was hugging each other, alumni were giving support and it was amazing to be a part of,” Horrigan said.
Looking forward, the graduating girls’ team runners expressed excitement and anticipation for the future seasons. “We have a young team, which makes me very hopeful and excited for the future of PEAGXC. We are only graduating two seniors who ran in the varsity race at interschols, which means that we have five returning runners for next season,” senior Olivia Lazorik said.
M. Machado shared similar sentiments, wishing the team well in future championship races and reflecting on the outstanding results of the team this season. “It was bittersweet for me to run my last cross country race, but I couldn’t be happier with how the team did. I know our JV girls will be more than ready to fight Andover for the Interschols title next year, and I hope varsity will continue their winning streak,” she said.