On Saturday, September 9, the boys cross-country team competed at the Monroe Parker Invitational and had an exceptional showing. Senior captain Sasha Minsky finished second overall in the boys varsity race, just one second behind the first place finisher from West Potomac High School. Alex Matthews, Zach Dalva-Baird, Eli Levine, Trip Moser, and Max Zeldes were close behind, finishing the 3-mile run within 30 seconds of each other in an impressive display of teamwork and pack running.
Despite the graduation of star runner Charlie Ortmans, the boys’ varsity cross country team is eager to compete this season for both State and MAC championships.
Head Coach Meredith Valmon, who had a remarkable collegiate and Olympic career, described the teamwork she believes will lead to success this year, “With cross country, you see the individual runners, but when you have a tight group that can run together, they can end up doing way more. I’m really excited about what I see: the two really tight packs that we’re going to have. Those guys running together as a group, it’s going to be really exciting to see what they can do.”
The team finished fourth overall, and is looking forward to competing in two weeks at the Oatlands Invitational.
Other highlights from Saturday include Avery Miller’s outstanding finishing time of 21:36, which shaved off almost four minutes from her time at last year’s ISL championship. Also notable was an eighth-place freshman/sophomore race finish by sophomore Luke Carter, and a great girls’ varsity finish led by senior Audrey Rentzepis.
