Monday, November 14, 2011

The contest of the week goes to boys varsity cross crountry for the team's fourth-place finish at the NEPSTA Championships.

Summary by coach Grant Gonzalez:

NMH XC traveled to Andover on Saturday to compete in the NEPSTA Division I Championship. Going in, BVXC knew that the competition would be very tight, having lined up against the top teams all fall. We set our individual and team goals though, keeping the focus on what we could control. All that focus and hard work from the season would pay off in the form of a fourth place finish for the team.

Our top four boys had aspirations of breaking the 17 minute barrier, and hopefully earning all-New England honors. Our five through seven runners wanted to work together and close that gap between the two groups. If we could accomplish these individual goals, we predicted a good team finish.

The weather was beautiful – sunny, low 50s, and a bit windy. We had seen Andover’s course three weeks earlier when we lost narrowly in our dual meet with the host school. The course begins and ends on their great lawn, about a 600 yard loop in the beginning that has a steady incline on grass. From there, the runners wrap around the chapel and head into the bird sanctuary, a wooded loop of 1.7 miles. This area features two hills of note, with some significant downhill where runners can catch their breath and hopefully some opponents.

We received an outside box number, lucky 13, so the boys needed to get over to their left rapidly in order to avoid wide turns around the trees on the opening section. With 98 runners competing and jostling for position, the opening section was inevitably going to be tough.

Henry Colt ’14 would lead the charge for the Hogger Harriers through the first mile. It was Jeff Simmonds ’12 though who would emerge on the great lawn for the finish first for NMH. Jeff is a three year varsity contributor and a captain, and knowing this was his last race wearing the NMH singlet, he was not about to give anything away. Amidst a pack of five runners, Jeff finished in a time of 16:47, breaking the 17 minute barrier for the first time, and establishing a 16 second PR. By way of comparison, Jeff ran 25 seconds faster than his time at Andover three weeks prior. Jeff’s 12th place finish overall earned him all-New England honors.

Next in for the Hogger Harriers was senior captain, Juan Gallardo for 20th place. Finishing right behind him for 21st overall was Edwin Hidalgo ’13. When the duo came on to the great lawn for their last loop, they were both about ten places back. Steadily climbing the grassy incline, Juan caught up to Edwin and the pair began jumping ahead of their opponents. While the two would have the heartbreak of being the first two finishers outside of earning all-New England honors, as well as finishing at 17:00 even, they could only be happy with the way they competed. Both earned PRs on the day, Juan by seven seconds and Edwin by seventeen.

Right on Juan and Edwin’s heels was Henry Colt ’14, in a time of 17:01. Henry was aiming high for the race, and while his finish was not where he would have liked, his 24th place finish was the highest place for any sophomore in the race. Henry was only two seconds away from his PR, and has a very bright running future ahead of him.

Captain Nate Rehm-Daly ’12 did not have the benefit of a teammate finishing around him for most of the season. One quest for the whole year was to develop Yuya Hashinaga ’14 and Christian Hidalgo ’14 to help close that gap. Yuya gave us a season performance for the day, shattering his PR by 29 seconds to finish fifth on the day. Yuya’s 17:43 race certainly had a mutually beneficial relation to Nate’s 13 second PR, as the captain came in two seconds behind Yuya.

Christian Hidalgo ’14, gave the team a great performance that not many could have equaled. Battling two injuries since the summer, Christian could barely train adequately throughout the season. His 18:23 finish is a testament to his will power and an auspicious sign for the future, as he ran through terrible calf pain. We fully expect Christian to be a cornerstone of the team next year after healing completely this winter.

After the last boy came in, we all waited anxiously for full results. The word came down that results would not be posted ahead of the awards ceremony though, so the suspense built throughout the JV races and the next two hours. Finally, in Andover’s old ice rink, their coaches announced the fourteen teams in ascending order. In seventh place, Andover. In sixth, Loomis Chaffee. In fifth, Choate. All teams that we had very close results to throughout the year.

In fourth place, NMH.

These boys worked very hard to get to this point – putting in the long runs in the summer and the grueling workouts this fall.

In two years we have moved from 10th to 7th to 4th place in the top division of NEPSTA, and it can be attributed to the desire, effort, and commitment that each runner contributed to the team.
Way to go boys!

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