The cross country team has had yet another highly successful season as they continue to establish themselves as a perennial power. Having only the postseason meets remaining, with the sectional being this Saturday, Oct. 7, the team will be riding strong momentum after its recent strong showing at the ACAC competition. The boys became back-to-back champions of the conference, and the girls finished second.
The Saturday, Sept. 30, ACAC meet was hosted by South Adams High School. The winning boys team score of 39, bested the South Adams total of 44, as the Starfires finished in second. With their efforts, three Patriots earned First Team All-ACAC honors. Junior, Devin Schmenk paced the team with a third place finish, followed by Jack Beauchot in 4th and Andy Kohrman in 6th. Jacob Anderson gained second team status with his 14th place finish. Schmenk said of the victory that it was “very important” and continued that “we all ran very well. Hopefully we can run the same if not better this weekend [at sectional].”
The girls also had a successful run at the ACAC meet, with an impressive second place. They had a final score of 96 at the meet, only falling to the dominant performance by South Adams’ girls who tallied a 21. Katie Graham placed 14th and led the Patriot ladies, earning Second Team All-ACAC recognition. Freshman, Nicole Kohrman said of the ACAC competition that it “was very nerve-racking, but at the end, when we heard our results, I couldn’t have been more proud of my team because I knew how hard we all worked to be able to do so well.” Junior, Katie Graham added that “I am very proud of the girls [because] most of them went all out, achieving a P.R.”
Up next is the sectional this Saturday, Oct. 7. Junior, Katelyn Sebring stated, “The goal for the girls cross country team is to advance to regionals as a team. That means we have to push ourselves in practice and keep working. We must keep a positive mindset and encourage one another in order to be successful.”
Jack Beauchot shared that, individually, he is aiming for a time in the range of 17:00-17:15 and a placement in the top 15. Referring to friendly competition, he also admitted to hoping to “beat [teammate] Devin Schmenk.” He said that the boys’ team goal is to “place 3rd or even 2nd as a team, run as hard as they can, get the best times they can, and set personal records.”
The teams head into the sectional already having accomplished many impressive acheivments throughout the season so far. The girls team was first out of nine teams at the Bellmont Invitational, and they also were second out of 12 at the Northfield Invitational. The boys team was first out of 12 at Northfield.
The teams will look to build on this success and begin to accomplish their postseason goals as they travel to Bellmont High School this Saturday for the sectional.