This is a short feature we’ll be running now that the fall season is over. To put the first trimester of the athletic year into perspective and prepare for the winter, the Banner will run a recap on each Harriton team’s season– including highlights, lowlights, and what we can expect in the future. Next up is boys and girls cross country.
Preseason: On the boys side, the Rams lost four of their top runners but returned a strong core led by junior Max Norris and senior Peter Downs. The girls, on the other hand, fielded a young team that returned almost all of their key runners from last year. Improvement from both squads was eagerly anticipated.
Regular Season: It was a mixed bag early for both teams. The boys had a rough 2-5 start but turned things around at the Bulldog Invitational, where they won the first ever invitational in team history. From there the Rams caught fire, sweeping their last two meets to finish with an impressive 6-5 record. The girls were hit by injuries and also got off to a slow start, but turned things around and recorded a few key victories at the end of the season to finish 3-8.
Postseason: At the Central League Championships the boys turned in a solid 6th place finish (matching their regular season record), while the girls, finally at full strength, shocked the league and catapulted up to 5th. Norris and Downs finished in first and second place overall in the league and went on to compete at Districts (4th and 16th, respectively) and States (32nd and 163rd).
Key Players: What more can be said about Max Norris and Peter Downs? The two captains not only led the Rams to their first winning record in recent memory, but they also turned in fabulous individual performances, both qualifying for the State championships. On the girls side, senior Ally McLaughlin and freshman Jane Henderson both placed at the Central League Championships to cap off strong seasons.
Best Moment: There were many highlights for the XC squads this season– their dominance at the Bulldog Invitational, an epic finish against Radnor that sealed the 6-5 record, and the District and State performances of Norris and Downs– but the high point had to be Central League Championships, where the two captains finished first and second overall and the girls team made a huge jump to 5th in the league.
Heartbreaker: Both teams were hit hard with injuries throughout the season and rarely seemed to be racing at full strength. Given both varsity teams healthy for the entirety of the year, both the boys and girls may have been able to top their records.
Recap: It was a season of firsts for cross country. From the Bulldog Invitational to Central League Championships, it’s difficult to call the season anything but a success. Both teams improved over their 2010 records and established the foundation for further improvement in the future.
What’s Next?: The boys will have to replace four varsity seniors next season, but with the return of Norris plus an impressive core of underclassmen– three of whom stepped in due to injuries at Districts– they should be able to make another strong run. The girls will have to replace their top runner in McLaughlin, but return both captains from this years squad. It’ll be a huge surprise if their record next year doesn’t reflect the progress they made throughout this season.
Quotable: “Here at Harriton we like to be goofballs ninety percent of the time and train ten percent of the time. I’m trying to flip that.” – Max Norris on establishing cross county tradition.