Cross Country Races in Franklin Park Meet
By Grace Puchalski ‘23
Phillips Exeter Boys’ and Girls’ Varsity Cross Country teams competed in a time trial this past weekend. The trial was Big Red’s first in-person athletic competition of the year, and as such, both teams were excited as they boarded busses to the meet.
“It was amazing to start competing again,” senior Charlotte Luff said. “Although much different from a typical meet, everyone was excited to get off campus and run at Franklin Park [in Boston], a challenging course.”
Of course, this meet was like no other, keeping pandemic guidelines in mind. Runners were kept safe by a different race set-up. Only one team ran at once, and once that heat finished, the next team would run. Only seven runners from each team were allowed to participate. Runners were also told to keep masks with them at all times, such that they could hastily put on their masks if they got close to another runner.
At the meet, Big Red flaunted their ability to succeed, even in the most unusual circumstances. The Boys’ Cross Country team was the only boys team to run, so they were unable to race against other teams. However, Big Red’s Girls’ team won first place, successfully putting Windsor behind them. Windsor’s team has had strong performances in the past, and Exeter’s win was a testament to the team’s hard work.
One especially impressive highlight was senior Gia Pisano’s time of 18:49, breaking 19 minutes on a difficult 5k course with grass and hard hills.
Cross Country is definitely looking ahead to future meets, but, for now, there are no other in person competitions scheduled. Still, they are certainly thankful to have competed in at least one meet this year.
This year, the pandemic has not only impacted the meets, but also everyday practices. The team is split up into many smaller groups, for example. Horrigan outlined some of the team’s struggles. “Running is purely a pack sport. You go faster when you’re closely surrounded by people,” he said. “With physical distancing guidelines, we have to stay away from our teammates, and this makes training and racing harder.”
Runners are also prevented from visiting off-campus trails, which provided tough hills to train on last year. However, “we are fortunate to have an amazing trail system on campus,” Luff said.
As a team, Big Red is strong as always. Several runners mentioned the great relationships they have built within the squad. As they look to the future, senior and co-captain Connor Chen said that runners are excited to “keep pushing one another to be the best athletes and teammates that we can be.”