A herd of runners stand ready in spikes, one knee slightly bent, toes touching the starting line. The hilly terrain stretches out in front of them, a taste of what is coming. As the whistle goes off, a question hangs in the air: Who will cross the line first?

This season, runners from the boys cross country team have broken both the junior varsity and varsity course records at their home course, Larz Anderson Park. These records did not come out of thin air; they are the culmination of a positive team environment, hard work and refined coaching.

Practices for the team take place six days a week: Monday through Friday at Cypress Field, and Saturdays at Larz Anderson. According to head coach David Fleming, during practice, athletes do a combination of running, strength training and stretching.

“They’re focused, they get their work done. I think we outwork a lot of the other teams in the league. This is one of the hardest working teams I’ve been around,” Fleming said. “They do warmups, they get out to do their program, and then stretch and lift. They do a lot of things that we don’t see every day.”

Fleming said his volunteer assistant coach, Michael Glennon, the previous head coach, has developed the current training program over almost three decades.

“Trust the process. Being part of this program at Brookline High School, there is a process. If you continue to come and work hard each day, each practice, each week, you’re going to get more fit. Sometimes it takes a while for it to come out in a race,” Fleming said. “If you stick to the program, stay consistent and do the hard work, then you’re going to be rewarded. You can’t get down on yourself.”

Sophomore Markus Dole has been on the team since his freshman year. This fall in a tri-meet at Larz Anderson against the Milton Wildcats and Natick Redhawks, Dole set the junior varsity course (1.63 miles) record with a time of 9:19.6. The following week, in a meet against the Newton North Tigers at Larz Anderson, Dole broke his own record again with a time of 9:05.8 An almost 14 second PR (personal record) from his previous record.

Dole said his success is due to the supportive team culture where coaches and teammates push him to do his best.

“I think my team is very supportive. I do like the community. Coming back to it this year, I was really excited for the season to start,” Dole said.

According to Dole, there are many points of opportunity throughout the season that athletes have to demonstrate their ability.

“There’s so many opportunities during the season that you shouldn’t feel bad just because of one race. You have multiple chances to prove yourself.” Dole said.

Senior Altamo Aschekenasy has also been running for the team since his freshman year, and set the varsity course record at Larz Anderson on Wednesday, Oct. 9, in the trimeet with the Milton Wildcats and the Natick Redhawks.

Aschkenasy set the course record, which had not been broken since 2007, with a time of 14:26.11. Aschkenasy said this race was the one time his coach let Aschkenasy and his teammates run the course all out.

“It seemed like it was [like] every other day. This was the one chance that our coach was letting us run full out: usually wants us to save our bullets for the championship postseason so we’re not too tired out. I was just feeling good. I knew I would have some competition pushing me. [It] encouraged me to do well; that’s what kept me up,” Aschkenasy said.

Aschkenasy said he split the first mile of the race at 4:55, and he did so while remaining behind the leading runner at that point, who was from the Redhawks. After that first mile, Aschkenasy led the rest of the race. Aschkenasy said he is happy to be where he is, and he advises athletes who want to achieve success in their sport to listen to their mentors.

“You have to listen to the people who have been there longer than you and experienced more training than you have. You have to stay consistent in what you do. You got to like what you do,” Aschkenasy said.

This fall, the boys cross country team won their third consecutive Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Division 1 State Championships title. Aschkenasy said that the team loves putting themselves in positions where they can have fun and create something bigger than themselves, such as breaking records and winning championships.

“The will to win doesn’t mean nothing without the will to prepare, and we do a really good job of preparing for what we want,” Aschkenasy said.