As Fall foliage starts to come around and hit the ground, so have the shoes of the runners for the Cross Country season

Photo Curtesy of the Newman School Instagram.

Cross country is back again for the competitive fall season with a larger team than usual. They have been placing much more in meets, with help from these new members. Captains, returners and new members reflect on how the season and competitions have been so far.

“I think that the connection and camaraderie between the team has been stronger than usual this year, we’re much bigger in numbers this season as well,” Co-captain Chris Taylor ‘26 commented. Chris adds that there are twelve members on the boys team and nine members on the girls team.

“The team is at its historic best, in both the boys and girls teams. Newman’s been running in a very smart way, every way that we’ve trained for and it's been really cool to see,” Co-coach Anthony Vitali, humanities teacher, shares. The team mentions that due to their higher number of people, they are able to always have a full boys and girls team, unlike the previous year. At times, they even have to switch runners in and out for different meets, due to the space in the van being limited to 14 runners.

“I’m really proud of everything the team [has] accomplished, especially coming from such a small team last year, so I think being able to qualify and even win has been huge,” Lucy Keesbury ‘25, who is also a co-captain and is on her fourth year with the team, builds on that, mentioning that for the first time, the Newman girls team won a meet when they ran at Lars Anderson with four girls in the top ten helping them win by over ten points. There have been several standout runners on the team consistently in the girls top ten and many beating their personal record each time.

“I really love being on the team this year, I’m very proud to be on such a strong girls team and I’m excited for what comes next” Izzy Czerwinski ‘29 who’s been on the team for one season commented. So far, there are four girls on the team on track to be season all-stars, meaning they are consistently in the top ten, these are Lucy Keesbury ‘25, Josie Desmound ‘26, Anna Lena Leutiger ‘26 and Laura Monaghan ‘28.

Several members of the team also mention that one of their favorite parts of being on the team is hanging out and being with the rest of the group as well. From listening to music in the van together on the way to the meets to just talking before runs. Several members mentioned that the support between members is really nice.

Many also mention that their favorite tradition is that of the Heartbreak Hat, introduced this year by Mr. Anthony Vitali, cross country co-coach and humanities teacher at Newman. The hat is given every week by him and Ms. Sarah Rothmann, also a cross country coach and English teacher at Newman. The hat is given to the most outstanding runner every week showing appreciation for their hard work. Said runner gets to keep the hat for the week and sign their name. Mr. Vitali hopes to fill the hat with all the team members' names, using this hat as a symbol for the team, using Heartbreak Hills motto, Run Hard, Risk Heartbreak as a goal to strive towards.

Many are excited about what's to come with the team and they all hope to continue improving and growing together. Hopefully, they also keep placing as high as they have been this far in the season.