Working together, seven cross-country runners achieve their goal of reaching states.
“Our senior captains train daily with the younger athletes, providing racing tips and inviting them to non-team activities to grow closer, our varsity squad is a tight knit group,” varsity cross country coach Steve Carcone said.
Seniors Anthony Frei, Drew Pietraszkiewicz, Jacalyn Yakel, Alex Perry, juniors Micheal Tidrow, Joey Nowicki, Maggie Baginski and sophomores Federico Moreno-Padilla and freshman Joseph Habib, qualified to compete in states.
“We all have a really strong bond with each other because we spend time with one another outside of practice. It helps us motivate one another to push harder when things get hard,” sophomore varsity cross country runner Moreno-Padilla said.
Throughout the season, the runners put lots of time into practice, conditioning and races to try their hardest to make states. By pushing themselves through the hard practices and races, their teammates motivate each other by huddling together, telling each other positive words and cheering on the sidelines.
“We are all close as a team, we hang out outside of school, help each other out with mental blocks, I think it just helps us as a team,” Pietraszkiewicz said.
In the women’s 5,000 Meter dash, Yakel, having the highest place within her team, placed 50th out of 249 with a time of 18 minutes, 42 seconds. Then in the male 5,000 Meter dash Pietraszkiewicz placed 118th out of 251 with a time of 16 minutes, 22 seconds. Their teammates Baginski, placing the top 125, Frei, Perry, Tidrow, Nowicki, Moreno- Padilla, and Habib placed top 250.
“It was my last cross-country race. It was sad and bittersweet,” Yakel said. “But I wanted to give my everything into my last race and I just wanted to feel good about it.”
