Waking up at five in the morning is not the typical way for a Jesuit student to spend his normal Saturday, but on October 8, 2011, the Jesuit Cross Country Team hosted and competed in the Third Annual Jesuit Classic Invitational Meet. The cross country team, consisting of both varsity and junior varsity runners, arrived at Norbuck Park, located on the southeast corner at the intersection of Northwest Highway and Buckner, to set up and prepare for the big day.
At about eight o’clock in the morning, many schools’ tents and bags of all sorts of shapes and colors lay scattered around the park. Over 30 schools attended the meet from all over the Dallas area, with teams such as Hebron, the Plano schools, Cambridge, Ursuline, and some middle schools competing in the races.
Many parents of the runners and other miscellaneous people took part to perform different tasks while wearing the Jesuit colors blue and gold. “Most of the meet was run by the parents,” says Assistant Coach Jonathan Segal. Coach Morro headed the first aid tent to wrap up sore muscles and ankles. Luckily, there were not as many injuries as expected.
The cycling club led the way so as to prevent the lead runners from getting lost in the thick brush of the park. A few teachers such as Mr. John Nugent, Ms. Katherine Guinn, and Mr. Stephen Pitts attended the meet to support their students. Some work grant students received hours by handing out water to the weary runners after the hard run.
Most of the junior varsity members ran close to the twenty minute mark in the five kilometer race. Of Jesuit’s JV team, Chris Wolff ’14 came in first, and of the Varsity team, Andrew Rosatto ’12 came in first. Due to the intense practice schedule the week before with Coach Robert Molyet and Coach Jonathon Segal, about twenty of the runners set new personal records.
We hope the team will continue its hard work to reach its goal of winning District. The entire Jesuit community is supporting the team as District are just around the corner. Jesuit is on its way to victory as District come ever closer, falling on the same day as Ranger Day, October 28, 2011.
Photography by Lori Austin
