10/1/11
The NYA Boys Cross-Country team returned from Belfast yesterday muddy but satisfied, with a strong 13th place team finish among 50 teams from all over Maine, New England, and even Canada. On a cool, wet day, the 3.1-mile course in Belfast was generally flat but a continuous ribbon of mud, which kept times slow but made the racing fun.
With many seniors at home to take the SAT, other runners had to improve their performances for the team to do well. Fortunately, many did. The Festival of Champions has an unusual format; freshmen run in their own heat, while all other runners are divided into seeded (fast) and unseeded (slow) heats. Then, all times are combined and the scores are calculated. NYA was led by Evan Kendall ’12, whose 18:13 race placed him 41st in the seeded race and 46th overall (of the 637 runners on the day). Rudy Guliani ’12 finished in 18:22 despite a spill that left him covered in mud and bleeding (53rd seeded / 60th overall). Brian Trelegan ’12 celebrated his birthday with a fabulous race that featured an astonishing closing kick (18:55 / 77th seeded, 87th overall). Grant McPherson ’12 bounced back this week with a dogged and helpful 18:58 (84th seeded / 95th overall). Matt Malcom ’15 came up big out of the freshman race. His 19:28 was good for 17th among the freshmen (of 163) and 157th overall. Ian Moore ’14 rounded out NYA’s varsity seven in 19:33 (24th unseeded / 168th overall).
Other NYA runners on the day included: Robert Field ’12 (20:11 / 62nd unseeded / 250th overall), Jake Burns ’13 (20:38 / 89th unseeded / 306th overall), John LeBlanc ’15 (21:26 / 70th freshman / 394th overall), Aldis Gamble ’13 (24:19 / 250th unseeded / 557th overall), and Oscar Zou ’13 (25:55 / 273rd sunseeded / 594th overall).
Many thanks to all who braved the conditions to support the team. Our next meet is Friday 10/7 at Royal River Park in Yarmouth.