Thursday, November 5, men’s cross country placed fourth of twenty-three teams in the MIAA championships.
“We definitely surprised the entire league, because for the last couple of years we’ve been placing pretty badly. To get fourth is kind of a big deal,” said senior Ian Richardson.
Varsity cross country had a record of 6-6 in their regular season. However, “it would have been 8-4,” said senior Chris Kunkel, “if two of our leading runners hadn’t gone off course in two meets.”
A total of 160 runners ran in the meet on Thursday, including those from both the ‘A’ and ‘B’ conferences. JC’s fourth place means that they not only beat all thirteen ‘B’ Conference teams, but also six out of the ten ‘A’ Conference teams.
Loyola placed first overall, with Calvert Hall in a close second, McDonough at third, only two points above JC.
Sophomore Ben Pickett’s individual sixth place overall “is what gave us that good finish,” said Richardson. “As a sophomore, he has a big career ahead of him.” Other leading runners were Richardson, who placed twenty-third, and sophomore Andrew Ellis, who came in thirty-first.
“Personally, it wasn’t my best race, but I did what I had to to keep our team in the running,” said Richardson.
The distance of the course was three miles. It took place at Oregon Ridge in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Kunkel described the course as having a “hilly terrain.”
“In the race itself, Calvert Hall and Loyola were really tight and battling it out. No one expected JC to even be in the top six. But when our pack of runners got close to the front, the other teams started taking us seriously,” said Kunkel.
“We definitely came together as a team,” said Richardson. “We were the most united team in the past couple of years.
Because of their close-knit team, several seniors were upset about the end of the season. “Everyone was really emotional at the end of the meet when we realized it was our last race,” said Kunkel.
Charlotte Hagerman can be reached for comment at [email protected].