MMFS Upper School Cross Country Season Wrap-Up

November 05, 2018

By Coaches John Michel and John Stimson

This cross country season was definitely one to remember. By the end, every athlete had lowered his/her/their time from the start of the season. These improvements were astounding, with Alex G improving the most with a difference of -5:54. Wilkie had a difference of-5:50, Scott -3:43, Spencer -3:33, Milo -1:49, Ian -1:40, Lara -1:25, and Alex A -1:13. All of this hard work enabled our team to qualify three runners, Milo, Ian, and Lara, for the New York State Championships. At this meet, Lara ran a fantastic race finishing 27th out of 186 girls and Milo and Ian finished 90th and 156th respectively out of 187 boys.

We would like to commend several individual achievements. Scott improved his stride and lowered his time tremendously. He became lighter on his feet and stayed more upright, taking 3:43 off his initial time. Spencer picked up where he left off from last season by ending each race with a strong sprint at the finish line. During one race, he was running so hard his shoe came off! Lara saved her best race of the season for last when she ran 22:09 at the championship meet. Alex A reached his season-long goal of running under 24:00 by his third race when he ran a 23:30. Alex G had the greatest improvement with his race times and he was able to finish under 30 minutes for his last two races.

All of the runners made this a very fun and rewarding season for us as coaches. These student athletes came to practice each day to work hard and improve, whether it was at Pier 5, the incline hills, or the Manhattan Bridge. This group didn’t have the best luck with weather in September, as there were some days of 100 degree heat and a number of storms during practices. During these days, our runners grinded practice indoors with stairs, fitness stations, and exercises in the weight room. We cannot express enough how hard these runners worked this season, and we are already looking forward to seeing what they will accomplish next year!

Check out the photos here.