Girls and boys varsity cross country win last meet and are Bay State Conference Champions
CONTRIBUTED BY ILAN LUSZCZYNSKI-WILLIAMS
The girls and boys varsity cross country teams both ended their regular season undefeated on Wednesday, Oct. 19 and as Bay State Conference Champions. Both teams have fostered kind and welcoming environments.
The Brookline cross country team competed in the annual senior day meet at Larz Anderson park this past Wednesday, Oct. 19, against the Newton North Tigers. Both the boys and girls varsity cross country teams won their races, ending both seasons with a 9-0 record.
The girls junior varsity (JV) team followed with a win, while the boys JV team lost.
With this win for varsity, both the boys and girls varsity teams officially won the dual meet title and are both Bay State Conference Champions as they both have the best records in the Conference.
Boys cross country coach Mike Glennon said this varsity win was especially significant because of how difficult their opponent was. He said that runners pushed themselves because of the high stakes.
“We knew coming in [that] Newton North was going to be a very tough opponent,” Glennon said. “We knew that their top guys were going to challenge us.”
The girls cross country team won 18-53 in the JV race and 17-43 in the varsity race. In both girls races Brookline runners took the first, second and third places.
Junior Chloe Barnes won the girls JV race and broke the Larz Anderson JV course record with a time of 11:33 for the 1.63 mile race. Freshman Hannah Peterson came in second place with a time of 11:43.
First place in the 2.76 mile boys varsity event went to a Newton North runner. However, sophomore Lysander Duffield and juniors Kailas Ciatto and Pablo Meyers finished second through fourth, winning the varsity race for the Warriors. Boys varsity won 24-34.
First through fourth place in the 1.63 mile boys JV event went to Newton North runners, with junior Cameron Walter taking fifth and sophomore Jake Mund placing tenth for Brookline. Boys JV lost with the final score being 16-70.
Senior and girls varsity captain Camille Jordan won the varsity race and broke her own personal record with a time of 18:10 for the 2.76 mile race. Jordan was named ‘Athlete of the Meet’ for girls varsity alongside fellow senior Clara Zoummar for girls JV. Jordan said that her thoughts through the race carried her through the finish.
“Honestly, I was just thinking about being there for the team and having good team spirit. I was reminding myself that I put in all the hard work in order for me to have a good race, just trying to stay confident,” Jordan said.
With it being senior day, it was the last time many runners got to compete for the high school before they go to college. Senior and boys varsity captain Alex Cooke said this put a lot of pressure on many of the seniors.
“Everything that I do right now and the speed I race at right now is what I’m going to remember when I think about cross country,” Cooke said.
Showing senior day team support, teammates celebrated their seniors with handmade posters, balloons and ribbons covering Larz Anderson. Sophomore Eloise Moor said the team environment is what motivates her to try her best while racing.
“I think the community of the team is one of the most welcoming communities of any sports team. Everyone is so kind and welcoming,” Moor said.
Glennon said that while they ended their regular seasons on Oct. 19 undefeated and as Bay State Conference Champions, the Warriors’ girls and boys varsity teams still need to place in the top seven in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Division 1A meet to qualify for the MIAA All State meet.
“We’re really just at the beginning of a championship season. The Bay State Conference Championship is a week from Saturday,” Glennon said. “Then we have the MIAA Divisional meet and then the State Championships meet the week after that. So we are pointing to all of these things and so far we are on schedule.”
Although many seniors are leaving, Glennon said he and the rest of the team are hopeful for future seasons.
“We look to reload every year, become our best and the goal of this year from the beginning has been to win the [State] Championship,” Glennon said. “We want to be the best of the champions. We look to do that this year and we look to continue doing that next year, the year after and so on.”
