The boys cross country team finished 10th overall at state on Nov. 9.

After a long and successful season that included a first place finish at conference, the team was hoping to place top five at state. But compared to last year’s 12th place finish, this is an improvement for the boys.

New Trier fell in the 3A class when competing for state. In the 3A class, first went to St. Charles East.Overall the team was not thrilled about their placement. Senior Felix Boeing felt as if the team could have placed better, but not every day is a good day.

“I think obviously we worked hard and would have liked to and probably deserved to place higher but the truth is we just didn’t have a good day but that’s how it is sometimes in racing.” said Boeing

Junior Andrew Flynn agreed. The boys did the best they could but the competition was stronger than the team expected.

“State was bitter sweet. All of us gave it our best in the race, however it wasn’t enough. The pool of talent at State was enormous,” said Flynn.

Head coach David Wisner agreed with Flynn and Boeing. In the end, the competition was tough and it wasn’t an easy race.

“We were hoping for top five and we had to run really well to be top five, but we didn’t have our best day at state, we had a tremendous season, but not the best day at state,” said Wisner.

Despite the disappointing placement, the boys still performed well in Boeing’s opinion. 

“Standout races were our sophomore Nick Falk who ran a 14:51, Andrew Flynn was our second man in 15:02 and George Cahill, another sophomore stepped in and ran 15:38 which was impressive from my point of view” said Boeing.

Wisner agreed. He saw a great improvement in the team over the season. He was very impressed by the perseverance of the boys because it hasn’t been an easy season.

“Thinking about the guys on varsity, almost every single one of them improved and most improved significantly in terms of their time, which was a hard feat this year because we are running in mud almost every weekend, so I think you have to look at the whole season,” said Wisner

Flynn sees this as an opportunity to motivate the team to do better next year and he is confident in the team’s success from here on.

“Coming off an ‘alright’ performance as and individual but also for the team at state only add fuel to the fire for us. We’re here to compete and make a statement in Illinois,” said Flynn.

The team had a successful season nonetheless. They finished first in the Palatine Invite which is one of the most competitive meets prior to state. 

Moving forward, the team is confident in the future. They have a bit of an advantage due to the number of young runners they have. Out of the top seven runners, six plan on returning for the next season.

“In our top seven we will have six out of the seven returning. Most teams will usually have three maybe four returners,” said Flynn.

Regardless of a rocky end, the boys are proud of adding another successful season to the books. The team came together this season like never before, making this one count.

“As a senior I think this was our best year yet and it was impressive to see and be a part of. The whole mentality and focus of the team seemed to change starting in the summer and we all did what we had to do to be great,” said Boeing.