For cross country’s first time trial of the season, six out of the top 10 cross country runners were underclassmen, two of whom were freshman. Of the top seven, who are typically selected to be varsity runners, three sophomores placed second, third, and fifth place respectively.
One of these runners, sophomore Ryan Chen, ran a time of 10:13 in the 3200, sustaining about a 5:06 mile pace for the roughly two mile event. Had been an official time, this would be the third fastest known time in school history that can be found on Athletic Live for a sophomore.
Chen attributed his speed to training in the winter in between official seasons. He said that not only did his fitness improve, but he also became better friends with the people on his team whom he trained with, and started enjoying the sport more.
“I think it’s the off-seasons that are the most important, because that’s when most people don’t train, and that’s how you get ahead of them,” Chen said. “I think consistency is key for almost every sport, but especially for running.”
In addition to running in the winter off-season, athletes run over the summer to build up fitness for the fall cross country season.
“My favorite early memory of cross country was the summer between my freshman and sophomore year where I went to Oregon to get altitude training with some of my teammates,” senior and team captain Rowan Moore said in an interview over email. “There was a lot of bonding, and as an underclassman I remember that trip as a time when I felt truly part of the team as I got to know a lot of people.”
Another memory that Moore recalled was a team barbeque where the team set goals for the season. He also added that the team has pasta parties before meets, to make “carb-loading” a team bonding event.
According to Moore, most of the team are underclassmen, and he said he is excited to see how these younger runners will perform in future years.
“They are very impressive, it seems each year the freshmen are getting faster and faster,” Moore said.
Chen agreed that the younger members of the cross country team have a lot of talent and potential to become star runners.
“One of the other freshmen I’m really impressed with, Yuval Goldberg, he is just super,” Chen said. “He’s just really fast, he did summer training with us.”
Both Moore and Chen said they anticipate a great cross country season for MVHS, fueled by the team’s drive to succeed, and boosted by an influx of new talent.
“So far my season has been really exciting and full of high expectations as the entire team has put in a lot of work not only to better our skills and athletic ability, but also to build a strong team culture in which we form strong bonds with each other, as a team should,” Moore said. “For these reasons I am very optimistic for this season, and excited to see what the team can do.”
Moore said that he believes the purpose of being team captain is to be a role model for others, and that he was responsible for motivating and bringing people together. He is in his fourth year on the team.
“Thinking about it right now, it seems weird to pass on the torch, however I know that the teams will be in excellent hands when I’m gone and will be able to be extremely successful,” Moore said. “Which makes me very excited to see what the teams can do in future years.”
