The Saint Joe boys and girls cross country teams have been training long and hard since this summer, and were able to see the fruits of their commitment at the Concord Invite at Ox Bow Park this past Saturday. Both teams ran strong and were able to set 26 new personal records, and 3 runners placed high enough in their races to earn medals.

The previous week had been a stressful one for the Saint Joe teams, as they competed in 3 5 kilometer races within 7 days, and they were relieved to have a full week to prepare for this meet. Coach Mike McCarthy made sure that their workouts were effective and their recovery habits were exceptional. He, along with the rest of the teams, knew that the competition faced on Saturday would be the tougher than those of the previous meets, and they conducted their workouts with an intensity to reflect this. By Friday the Indians knew they were ready to compete.

The girls varsity race started out strong but controlled. They knew they were up against fierce competition with the Penn and Northridge teams, but continued to fight throughout the whole race. Unfortunately, Alexis Kintzele, the lady Indians’ frontrunner started feeling nauseous and fell off in the last kilometer. Seeing her teammate faltering in front of her, Maeve Kearney pushed forward and came in 24th place with a time of 21:21, setting a new personal record by 17 seconds. Other outstanding runs were Kiley McGuire, who came in 35th place and beat her previous personal record by 16 seconds, Mary Clare Elliot, who came in 44th place and beat her personal record by 10 seconds, and Lexi Juday, who came in 53rd place and set a new personal record by 23 seconds. Despite the odds against them, the girls came in a solid 4th out of 14 schools competing.

Next on the list was the boys varsity race. The start of the race was extremely fast, but the boys knew better than to rush out and stayed back to pick off those who would eventually fade later in the race. This strategy to start out controlled and pick up the tempo each kilometer worked, as most of the boys exceeded their expectations for the race. Zach Taylor came in 14th place overall with a time of 17:17, earning a medal and beating the personal record he set last season by 21 seconds. More strong runners were Brendan Pruitt, who came in 38th place and tied his personal record at 18:03, Josh Frabutt, who came in 50th place, skimming 2 seconds off his personal record, Alex Gutierrez, who came in 71st place with a new personal record of 18:48, and Aiden Dowdle who came in 83rd place and dropped his personal record down to 19:07. Although they made great personal improvements, the boys came in 9th out 15 scoring teams.

The girls junior varsity race was a tough one, featuring a deep field. Despite these odds, Mia Ritschard pushed through and came in 14th place overall for the girls, scoring herself a medal. Several other girls set new person records today, including Colleen Loitz, Franciska Vogel, Flannery Fangman, and Alessandra Romo.

The boys junior varsity race marked the return of Marko Enriquez, who had been fighting injures since the end of the cross country season last year. He stormed through the race with a look of determination in his eyes, and ended up coming in 3rd place with a time of 18:12, earning himself a medal in the process. Many other runners were able to set a new personal records. These runners include Joey Borsodi, Nolan Finfrock, Elliot Mark, Leo Gasper, and Carmelo Russo.

The Indians now set their eyes on New Praire, where they will compete against teams from all over the state in an intense race on an even intenser course.