This fall, Chase Silverman, Senior Captain of the Boys Cross Country team, is having one of the best cross-country seasons in New Trier history. His personal best of 14:56 for 3 miles is the 3rd fastest personal best for a New Trier runner in the past decade. That time had the potential to drop dramatically at the state meet on November 9th in Peoria, where for the last time in a New Trier Cross Country uniform, Silverman laced up his trusty Asics running shoes.

Silverman has been finishing first on the team consistently in races this season. Moreover, his 3 mile running time has steadily been decreasing. Each year, his running times have improved dramatically, and it only continues to get better. By year, his times for 3 miles are: freshman 17:43, sophomore 16:27, junior 15:21, and senior 14:56.

When asked what he loves most about the sport, he explained, “Definitely growing together as a team and as a group, improving and getting better together while feeling a sense of team accomplishment.” He’s enjoyed his running experience so much that he plans to run in college: “I’m definitely making it a priority to run in college. I’ve received offers from various schools and I’m working on deciding what the best situation for me is going to be.”

Silverman’s dedication to the sport is unmistakable. He said, “I train Monday thru Saturday, including twice a day 2-3 times every week. After the Cross Country season is over, I take two weeks off then begin training for Track. Then once Track ends, I get two weeks off, and then I start training for Cross Country.”

His teammates have taken note of Silverman’s continual motivation. Sophomore runner Ted Oh, who’s trained with Silverman this Cross Country season, said, “He has an intense dedication to the sport which is obvious not only through his words but by the way he leads by example, this makes it really clear to everyone what it takes to succeed.” Fellow Captain and Senior Peter DeWeirdt said, “There’s not a guy on the team who wants it more than him. People follow his example when they see how fiercely he competes.”

Silverman hasn’t always been the best runner on the team. He emerged as a serious runner during summer training, going into his junior year. “Over the summer leading up to junior year, when I first started to train with the top guys in the varsity group, I started to run really well in workouts and I just began to improve more and more as the summer went on,” Silverman said. His success continued through to track when he was able to run a 4:18 mile and 9:24 for the 2 mile.

New Trier hasn’t lost during this post season, winning Conference, Regionals and Sectionals. They were also one of the favorites for the recent state meet. This wouldn’t be possible without the great effort that Silverman has put forward. He’s been on fire, getting 3rd overall at Conference, winning the regional and placing 3rd again at sectionals. Silverman was ecstatic with the team’s effort at sectionals. New Trier was able to pull out an underdog win against the states number one ranked team Elmhurst York. “I could hardly walk after finishing. All of us put everything we had on the line,” said Silverman.

After the race he said, “I thought each runner on our team raced well individually which helped our team’s overall score. We went into the sectional meet very confidently. Our main goal all season has been to place top 3 at state, and this meet reaffirmed that we can beat any team as long as we remain focused and run our race,” said Silverman.

Although Silverman did not meet his expectations at the November 9 State Meet, Silverman relishes his time on the team. As a school, New Trier finished sixth overall at the State Meet.

There are many rewarding and great things that Silverman enjoys about running, but when I asked him what the best part for him was, he said mischievously, “the short shorts.”