The boys varsity cross country team competed in a 2-mile race against the Natick Redhawks for their annual Halloween race this year at Harry Downes Field on Friday, Oct. 31.

The Warriors, who have won the state championship for the last three consecutive years, have a very strong team. This includes junior Liam Hartman and senior captain Theodore Butty, the two fastest two-mile returners in the state.

Butty said the team has been improving since its season started, and it really showed in their race.

“It shows how far we’ve come fitness-wise, especially because we haven’t really cut down our training and built up the speed,” Butty said.

Head coach Michael Glennon said many of the runners have improved since the previous season.

“We’ve got a couple of kids from our team that are pacing to start out the race, and then a lot of the other guys have improved a lot since their track seasons and when they’ve run two miles,” Glennon said.

Before the start of the race, the team huddled together to form a circle to pump each other up, jumping and then shouting their rallying cry before lining up behind the starting line.

The race started with senior John Bianchi of the Redhawks up front, starting a long line of racers across the track. By the end of the race, Butty almost caught up to Bianchi, but finished second with a time of 9:23, and Hartman finished soon after with a time of 9:29.

The team hopes to win their fourth consecutive state championship, and senior Eric Bardon said that he views the meet as a fun race before the harder parts of the season soon to come.

“It’s nice to see all our teammates around on the track. In the next few weeks, we’re gonna be running the all-state cross country meets,” Bardon said. “This is like a track race in the cross country season.”

Junior Ibrahim Abdel-Dayem said that the team is confident in themselves and determined to show the entire state that the Warriors are not to be counted out. The team is assured of themselves, coming here to show the entire state their capability for this season, said Abdel-Dayen.

“I think throughout the season, we’ve been slept on,” Abdel-Dayem said. “We are confident in ourselves, and we’re just here to show the others and show the state what we can do, what we’re capable of.”