Don’t do your absolute best, just beat your competitors. When competing in high stakes divisions like regionals and districts, this advice echos through the heads of each runner; don’t do your absolute best, just beat your competitors. Runners in previous races tried to beat their PRs (Personal Records) to impress against other runners across the state, however now the only thing that matters in the postseason is winning; that is the ultimate judgment of how good a team is. Despite these cautionary suggestions, Jesuit’s Cross Country team continued to dominate and surpass extremely high expectations in both rigorous divisions.
The Jesuit Cross Country team dominated their competition in the postseason, winning the District Championship and placing 3rd at the Regional Championship. With their podium finish at the Regional Championship, the Rangers Cross Country team qualified for the UIL State Championship, making it the most successful season in Jesuit Cross Country history.
Beginning, their postseason with the District Meet, Cross Country competed against seven varsity teams for the Championship. John Garvey ’16 commented, “the postseason is different because the times we run don’t matter at all, it’s all about placement. Placement determines how well the team does.”
And luckily, they did just that. Connor O’Neill ‘17, a standout runner all year, took first place overall in the meet, finishing with a time of 15:46. Connor Garvey ’16, captain and team leader, took second place with a time of 17:08. Ethan Brownlee ’16, John Garvey ’16, and Miles Burrow ’17 took fifth, sixth, and seventh place. The top finishes by these runners earned Jesuit first place overall as a school, sending them to regionals.
Connor Garvey, when asked about the finish stated, “I was really impressed with our finish, and it gave our team momentum.” Garvey added that “our team worked hard all year and it was good to see that hard work paid off.”
From there, it was time for regionals. At regionals, Jesuit had their best finish ever, earning their first ever team trip to state. At regionals, Jesuit had 5 runners finish in the top 50, a feat that has never been done before.
Connor O’Neill dominated this race, taking second place with a time of 14:44. As expected, Connor Garvey also came through in this race, taking 23rd with a time of 15:47. John Garvey took 29th, and Burrow was the fourth to finish in the top 50, taking 44th. This impressive finish garnered Jesuit’s first ever full team qualification to state.
“This was one of the best days for the team,” stated Burrow, “we dominated, and I really brought my A game, and the whole team earned this trip to state.”
Next up, the biggest meet in Jesuit Cross Country history, the Texas State Championships. 7 runners on the Jesuit team were preparing to take on the treacherous course in Round Rock, Texas. There was a little less than two weeks for the team to prep for the biggest meet of their lives, leaving them little time to think about anything else from that point forward. The team, “did mostly recovery runs leading up to state” said Miles Burrow.
November 6, 2015. To most students, this day was the most exciting day of the year, Ranger Day. But to the cross country runners, this day was the day before the state meet, the day they would board the bus and journey to Round Rock to continue their preparations for the meet of their Jesuit careers. When the runners were called down in front of the entire school, Burrow believed “this was really when it hit me. I realized that I was on my way to state, on my way to run against the best runners in the state and in the country. But the best part was definitely my Jesuit brothers cheering the team on. Cross Country isnt usually an organization that gets as much recognition as football or basketball so it was really amazing that we were being cheered on as much as we were.”
Regardless of the finish at state, this was the best season in Cross Country history, and the team deserves recognition.
