With 14 New Trier varsity runners heading to regionals and both teams winning conference, cross country has a strong start on the road to state.
At conference, held at Glenbrook South High School (GBS), eight races were organized by gender, with distances ranging from 2 to 3 miles.
New Trier placed first in the junior varsity, varsity, and freshman/sophomore races for both genders. Seven boys and seven girls placed in the top 12 at the meet in their respective categories. The team beat the second place school, Maine South, by 40 points.
“The fact that we [have run the course] before and received times from [those races] motivated [the team] to push themselves to beat their previous time,” captain senior Sam Hogin said.
Senior captain Josh Derrick and junior Grace Fagan won the overall CSL Conference, with Fagan setting the GBS course record with a time of 17:37.39. Senior captain Jackie O’Brien won the Girls JV race with a time of 18:44.64. Derrick placed third in his race with a time of 15:00.31.
Freshman Meagan Rittmanic won the girl’s Frosh/Soph race with a time of 18:31.8. Sophomore Kiran Baakkonen placed second in the boy’s Frosh/Soph race with a time of 16:03.93.
“This meet was an incredible one to watch because there was not a single [person] from New Trier team who was not pushing [themselves],” Hogin explained. “This excellence extended to their conduct off the course as well.”
Conference was the last race for most of the runners. Therefore, many seniors competed for the last time for New Trier. Only a select few that qualified will compete in regionals at Niles West High School.
The team met at the Northfield campus at 7:00 AM to depart for conference. “On race day, the routine is everyone does a couple of miles of warm up on their own,” junior David Lee explains. “Then [the team] stretches. [Lastly] we do a group cheer at the starting line.”
To prep for the races during practice, the team spends time completing workouts focusing on the mental aspect of running. The team also tapers for mileage. “During mid season we alternated hard workouts with medium long runs, recoveries, and weekend races,” Lee said.
“An unparalleled amount of [runners] on the team ran at varying levels [and] earned either a season or lifetime personal record. Runners would be greeted by a chorus of cheers from their supportive teammates and coaches. After every race there were hugs all around,” Hogin said.
“The highlight of conference was having a great end to the season and seeing everyone [set their personal record] at the last meet,” Lee said. “It was pretty emotional, because it was the last race of most of the seniors.”
“I am beyond proud of our team. Conference was a fantastic way to end the season and these past few months have been amazing,” said senior captain Juliet Gunther.