Under the bright lights, the Jesuit runners lined up on the line knowing months of training had prepared them for this race. Jesuit Cross Country recently held their annual “Thursday Night Lights,” a two-mile time trial and yearly tradition that decides the varsity rosters for the first meet of the season. Once the roster was set, the team made their way to Rock Hill High School, competing in their first meet of the year and showcasing the same energy they had brought to Thursday Night Lights.
Thursday Night Lights
Weeks of summer training requiring runners to wake up no later than 6 a.m., five days a week, all culminated in this suspenseful night known as “Thursday Night Lights,” being the only race of the season allowing athletes to compete during dusk. On top of that, varsity rosters for the first meet of the season were decided by this one performance, so runners were sure to put on their best show, as well as bring their best smiles. As this year’s cross country team was putting out their best efforts, a crowd of family and friends joined them in the stands to cheer them on.
“Thursday Night Lights is always a great way to start off the season. I am proud of the work the team put in this summer, and I’m excited to compete alongside them this season. Big things are coming!”
– Oscar Gooden ’28
The runners truly put on a memorable performance at this event, led by Oscar Gooden ’28 with a two-mile time of 10:13. The freshman class were quick as well, led by Aidan Grafe ’30 with a time of 11:05, which placed him fifth in the race. Many runners made big improvements in their times, not only from last year, but also from just a month before when they competed in a two-mile time trial in July. The most improved runner from last year’s Thursday Night Lights was Aidan McGuire ’27, shaving off a sizeable 1:33 from his time.
Traditions
Under Head Coach Doug Robinson, this Jesuit team has become a brotherhood unlike any other, upholding traditions spanning decades. For starters, the team voted on four captains who portray the virtues of leadership, respect and perseverance to lead the team to success. The goals of the chosen captains are to bring the team closer together as a Jesuit brotherhood, push teammates in practice and off the course to be the best version of themselves and to guide the team to victory in overcoming the challenges best fought as a team. With this being said, at the end of Thursday Night Lights, four captains were announced: Aidan McGuire ’27, Sebastian Espinoza ’27, Joaquin Lopez ’27 and Oscar Gooden ’28.
As a long-standing tradition, on the Friday after Thursday Night Lights, the runners went on a one-day retreat to Hawaiian Waters. After their refreshing trip to the water park, the seniors and juniors drove the sophomores and freshmen to eat pizza at Heritage Pizza. To wrap up the day, they headed over to Grandscape Mall and played minigolf and seven-on-seven football. Before the opener of the cross country season, a senior led and organized a pasta dinner, which was held at Olive Garden. Not only was this a great bonding experience for the team, but the runners were able to “carb-load” for their race the next day. All in all, the team was able to engage in key brotherhood moments during these opening traditions, while kicking off a season filled with many more.
“[Olive Garden has] always been a great way to bond with your teammates and get mentally prepared for the first race.”
– Sawyer Cole ‘28
Rock Hill Season Opener
On Friday, August 14, Jesuit started their season at the Rock Hill XC Opener. Jesuit had four teams in that meet: Varsity Elite, placing 13th, led by junior Oscar Gooden; Varsity Open, placing 10th, led by twins Daylan Le ’29 and Camden Le ’29; JV, placing sixth, led by Britain Salmon ’30; and JV Open, placing first, led by Thomas Stewart ’29. Overall, the runners were able to display many great individual performances while raising up the team as a whole. To start, Oliver Craine ’29 finished as the second place runner for the team in his first ever varsity race. Then, Thomas Stewart finished as the third place runner in the JV Open race and was the team’s overall top-place finished across the four races. Additionally, sophomore Daylan Le had a 46-second improvement from Thursday Night Lights, while Alex Everett ’30 had over a minute improvement.
A unique idea by Coach Robinson was to put only freshmen in the JV race, with the goal that they would work together, push one another and develop that key idea of brotherhood emphasized at Jesuit. With their sixth place finish, it is safe to say that the goal for the runners set by Coach was more than achieved. Coach Robinson repeatedly said at practice how proud he was of the freshmen in this JV race and the senior captains leading the team throughout the meet, but also of team as a whole.
Overall, Jesuit performed immensely, and Rock Hill was an amazing opportunity to begin the season. The team’s next event is the Greenhill Relays on Saturday, August 29. In this event, runners work together as relay teams of four, each running 1.5 miles, jumping over obstacles such as hay bales while racing to the finish.
Stay tuned to The Roundup for more Jesuit Cross Country coverage!
