Led by Coaches Mr. Sokolnicki, Mr. McDonough, Mr. Liu, and Mr. Tolfree, and captains Cooper LeBlanc ‘18, Aidan Hartzell ‘18, and John Duggan ‘18, 55 Kent runners practiced hard and raced to their limits this fall.

According to Mr. Sokolnicki, the runners practiced “at least 4.5 to 5 miles per day,” more than the 3 miles of a typical race, so that “their body can adjust” in the races. The team has won four meets against Trinity-Pawling, Berkshire, Salisbury, and Millbrook and hopes to win the New England’s Championship, in which Kent has placed second and third the last two years.

According to LeBlanc, there are many different courses to practice on: Kent’s own race course, Macedonia State Park, and along the Housatonic River. Sometime, the runners will even run a short route on the Appalachian Mountain. LeBlanc also mentions an interesting Kent’s cross country tradition, that each Friday the captains will decide a theme for the run and hold the “Captain’s Run.” “It’s a good time for the guys to get in the work before the race on Saturday, but it’s also kind of a really really strong team bonding thing,” says Cooper, “Everyone gets dressed up as the same thing together as a team.”

Both Mr. Sokolnicki and LeBlanc explains that the main part of being coach and captain is explaining to players that hard work will be rewarded. Fortunately, as evidenced in last weekend’s competition with Taft,” in which almost everybody made his personal best,” many boys have were rewarded for their hard work.

According to Mr. Sokolnicki, the team has many talented and hardworking runners who made huge improvements. He highlights Alpin Yukseloglu’ 19, Lucas Phifer’ 20, Jenson Choi’ 19, and Brandon Schuster: “[They] go extra miles during the practice and that paid off during the race.”

Mr. Sokolnicki is confident that the team will do even better come their last races in the upcoming championship.