Roxbury Latin Jamboree: A Bittersweet End to the 2012 Season
A noreaster last Wednesday postponed our final championship meet to Friday, November 9th. This was truly the peak of our season; the day we had been training for since September. It was also our last chance to race Belmont Hill, Roxbury Latin, and St. Sebastian's, the three powerhouse teams that we had fallen to earlier in the season. We were lucky that everyone was healthy and fit for the race, despite having to bump it back a few days. We did our best to stay motivated by watching Chariots of Fire and running in the snow. Before we knew it, November 9th had arrived, with temperatures in the high 40s and abundant sunshine. The Fay runners were ready.
We arrived at Roxbury Latin for the course tour early on Friday aftenroon. The main starting field (which the runners loop around a few times over the course of the 2.2 mile race) was still soggy and wet from the snow. The rest of the course looked great, and the paths in the woods were nice and dry. The boys race began at 3:00, and they were off at an impressive clip. About 3/4 mile into the race, Matt Thalmann was up in the pack with the leaders. Christian Schoen, Andrew Daphnis, and Shivam Sharma were not far behind. About 10 runners back we had another solid pack comprised of Jack Thalmann, Aidan Baxter, Kam Strong, and Nick Hadlock. We were on pins and needles as they disappeared back into the woods. As the race continued, Matt maintined his position in the lead pack, and Christian and Andrew began to work their way up into the top 10. Jack Thalmann was also beginning to move further up into the top group, making our 1-5 split smaller and smaller with each step that he took.
We had a remarkable sight to behold when the runners emerged from the killer hill for the last time. A red jersey was out front, and Matt had officially taken the lead! He had an exciting "victory lap" around the last soccer field before finishing the race as this year's junior cross country champion, in a time of 13:29. Congratulations to Matt on an undefeated season!
Fay had two more runners in the top 10: Christian Schoen in 9th place (13:59) and Andrew Daphnis in 10th place (14:00). Christian improved by almost 20 places from last year's race, and Andrew's performance hints at a promising career ahead of him. While he battled cramps for much of the race, Shivam pushed through to finish 4th for Fay in 17th place overall with a time of 14:14. Jack continued his momentum in the latter half of his race and was able to push past a handful of other runners in the final stretch to finish in 27th place overall, with a time of 14:44. Congratulations to our top 5 for a spread of only one minute and fifteen seconds! Nick Hadlock and Aidan Baxter served as key displacers for us, finishing in 30th and 41st place, respectively. Complete results can be found here.
Sally Lee ('15) was our lone runner in the girl's race, which began at 3:30. She tackled the first half of the race with impressive courage, not afraid to go out with a very speedy group of athletes. Sally finished in 27th place overall, with a time of 17:26. We look forward to watching Sally develop as a runner over the next few seasons, as she has already shown much potential. We also hope that we will have some additional girls on the starting line with Sally next year at the jamboree! The girls results can be found here.
With no formal awards ceremony at the Roxbury Latin Jamboree, we were not sure when the team scores would be posted. It looked like we had a lot of tough competition out there, especially from the three teams that had edged us out earlier in the year. After some post race whoopie pies (thanks, Mrs. Schoen!) we noticed that the results had been posted near the race tent. It was official: Fay Cross Country finished in 2nd place overall, with a total of 64 points! St. Sebastian's was unbeatable this season, but we were happy that our hard work had paid off as we finished 14 points ahead of Belmont Hill and 17 points ahead of Roxbury Latin.
What an incredible season this has been! We have had such a talented and hard-working group of young men and women, and we truly can't wait for next season. It feels like 2012 went by in the blink of an eye. We owe much of the success of our runners to our devoted fans and parents, thank you for everything you have done to support the Fay Cross Country team this year!
Back
We arrived at Roxbury Latin for the course tour early on Friday aftenroon. The main starting field (which the runners loop around a few times over the course of the 2.2 mile race) was still soggy and wet from the snow. The rest of the course looked great, and the paths in the woods were nice and dry. The boys race began at 3:00, and they were off at an impressive clip. About 3/4 mile into the race, Matt Thalmann was up in the pack with the leaders. Christian Schoen, Andrew Daphnis, and Shivam Sharma were not far behind. About 10 runners back we had another solid pack comprised of Jack Thalmann, Aidan Baxter, Kam Strong, and Nick Hadlock. We were on pins and needles as they disappeared back into the woods. As the race continued, Matt maintined his position in the lead pack, and Christian and Andrew began to work their way up into the top 10. Jack Thalmann was also beginning to move further up into the top group, making our 1-5 split smaller and smaller with each step that he took.
We had a remarkable sight to behold when the runners emerged from the killer hill for the last time. A red jersey was out front, and Matt had officially taken the lead! He had an exciting "victory lap" around the last soccer field before finishing the race as this year's junior cross country champion, in a time of 13:29. Congratulations to Matt on an undefeated season!
Fay had two more runners in the top 10: Christian Schoen in 9th place (13:59) and Andrew Daphnis in 10th place (14:00). Christian improved by almost 20 places from last year's race, and Andrew's performance hints at a promising career ahead of him. While he battled cramps for much of the race, Shivam pushed through to finish 4th for Fay in 17th place overall with a time of 14:14. Jack continued his momentum in the latter half of his race and was able to push past a handful of other runners in the final stretch to finish in 27th place overall, with a time of 14:44. Congratulations to our top 5 for a spread of only one minute and fifteen seconds! Nick Hadlock and Aidan Baxter served as key displacers for us, finishing in 30th and 41st place, respectively. Complete results can be found here.
Sally Lee ('15) was our lone runner in the girl's race, which began at 3:30. She tackled the first half of the race with impressive courage, not afraid to go out with a very speedy group of athletes. Sally finished in 27th place overall, with a time of 17:26. We look forward to watching Sally develop as a runner over the next few seasons, as she has already shown much potential. We also hope that we will have some additional girls on the starting line with Sally next year at the jamboree! The girls results can be found here.
With no formal awards ceremony at the Roxbury Latin Jamboree, we were not sure when the team scores would be posted. It looked like we had a lot of tough competition out there, especially from the three teams that had edged us out earlier in the year. After some post race whoopie pies (thanks, Mrs. Schoen!) we noticed that the results had been posted near the race tent. It was official: Fay Cross Country finished in 2nd place overall, with a total of 64 points! St. Sebastian's was unbeatable this season, but we were happy that our hard work had paid off as we finished 14 points ahead of Belmont Hill and 17 points ahead of Roxbury Latin.
What an incredible season this has been! We have had such a talented and hard-working group of young men and women, and we truly can't wait for next season. It feels like 2012 went by in the blink of an eye. We owe much of the success of our runners to our devoted fans and parents, thank you for everything you have done to support the Fay Cross Country team this year!