Commitment is a very important tenet to a Jesuit student, and on October 28, 2011, the Jesuit cross-country team skipped out on Ranger Day so that they could fulfill their track duties. The running Rangers faced off against track teams from Skyline, Lake Highlands, Berkner, Sunset, W.T. White, and Richardson in the District Championship Cross Country meet. The cross-country team, composed of 7 varsity runners and 34 junior varsity competitors, arrived at Norbuck Park at six in the morning to compete.
Varsity runners lined up at the start to run at 9:00 a.m., only to hear that the course had changed from what was previously expected, from a 2.8-mile course to about a 3.3-mile course, which is longer than the typical 5 kilometer run that the team had run at meets previously this year.
This obvious obstacle didn’t stop the Jesuit cross-country team who took first place on both varsity and JV. Most of the varsity runners’ times were under 18 minutes, and junior varsity runners clocked times averaging about 20 minutes. Standing apart from the other runners, Andrew Rossato ’12 came in first for Jesuit and a close second place overall, losing to a Skyline runner by less than one second. On the JV team, junior Michael Boone ’13 took first place with a time of 17:54.
“I’m proud of how our kids did,” said track coach Robert Molyet. “Many [on the team] went out hard and pushed [the] second mile thinking that the course was shorter, but were able to maintain even in a long course.”
After winning the district meet, the Cross Country team claimed multiple trophies and plaques to take home to Jesuit.
The win at Districts moved the varsity runners to run the regional meet on Saturday November 5, 2011 where they had a chance to go to the state competitions. However, the Jesuit Cross-Country team came in 9th place overall. Sophomore Dillon Smith ’14 added that he thought “it was awesome to get to travel and compete with [the team] this year” and that he was “pumped to go to regional’s with everybody.”
We congratulate the Cross Country team for their outstanding work all year long and for their win at Districts this week. The Jesuit community looks forward to another great year of cross-country, where hopefully some of the varsity runners will make it to the state meet.
