Varsity highlights
The Pioneer mens varsity cross country team got off to a
lackluster start at the Brother Rice invitational. Pioneer placed
12th of 27 teams at this meet. Although 12th place is well below the
result from last year, it has to be remembered that the Brother Rice
meet features a very strong field, with 16 teams from the 2000 state
meet.
Leading the way for Pioneer was senior James Naughton in 18th
place. James' time of 17:01 was the best Pioneer time at Brother
Rice since 1997 (maybe longer). Joe Anderson (17:58) was second
for Pioneer, and took 45th place in the race. Soren Berg showed
tremendous toughness and was the 3rd man for Pioneer (18:27). Soren's
time was over a minute faster than his 2000 race. Andy
Harvey slipped to 79th place (18:36) in the race after starting too
quickly. Mike Roth was the 5th man in a time of 18:58.
Overall, it was not a great start. But this is just the first
meet and there is lots of time for improvement. With a proven group
of seniors, and upcoming younger runners, Pioneer is sure to see
substantial improvement over the coming weeks.
Junior varsity highlights
Freshman Takashi Gould got off to an awesome start. Takashi took 3rd
place in the JV race with a time of 18:29. This is the best time
in a first-ever race for at least four years. Fellow freshman Mortie
Stensones-Fornaess also had a great race (18:57). The future looks
bright for these two.
Besides the freshmen, there were other notable performances.
Sophmore Jeff Hubbard, also competing in his first cross country
race, ran a fine time of 19:32. Dan Moyer (20:21) smashed his PR (personal
record) by one and a half minutes. Sam Milgrom (19:48) improved on his 2000
time at Brother Rice by 1:40. Marty Everin had a fine first race
with a 20:11 time.
Of course, not everyone had a great race. No doubt, some thought
that the whole experience really, well, was very unpleasant. But,
hey, it gets better from here. You may have started too fast. The
Brother Rice course is one of the most difficult of the entire season
and it was warm and humid. Most runners will get PR's in their next
race. As the season progresses, you will get stronger and see your
times improve dramatically. If you stick with it, you will have a
great feeling of accomplishment by the end of the season. So don't
stop now. In many ways the most difficult part is already over.