The boys varsity cross country team has an undefeated record this season, including winning the CSL South Conference championship, a home meet hosted at Duke Childs Field in Winnetka.

Varsity Head Coach Matthew Sloan said that the meet was successful for the team as a whole.

“[The runners] won the varsity race with a score of 27 points (lowest score wins in cross country – with 15 being a perfect score) with all seven athletes earning All-Conference (finishing in the top-14 of the meet),” said Sloan.

Individual runners also triumphed on Saturday, helping lead the team to its victory in the 42-person 3 mile race.

“In the varsity race, our athletes won the conference title outright and were lead by individual champion, junior Nick Falk who ran 14:59, senior Charlie Siebert in 5th,senior Conor O’Neill in 6th, senior George Esteve in 7th, junior George Cahill in 8th, senior Andrew Flynn in 10th, and senior Noah Rush in 13th,” said Sloan.

The runners on the varsity team, which has 27 athletes, have been training hard and their work has paid off, according to senior Conor O’Neill.

“We are very excited for the coming postseason and what we can accomplish in that. We have put in the work since the beginning of the summer and are excited to reap the benefits in the coming weeks,” said O’ Neill.

Senior Andrew Flynn is excited for the postseason as the team’s top seven runners are so far undefeated.. 

“So far the varsity team has been unstoppable. Numerous running sites have us ranked as the #1 team in Illinois,” said Flynn.

However, Sloan believes that the rankings are insignificant compared to the progress that the runners are making.

“I personally don’t read too much into those sorts of things. What matters to me is that our athletes are focused on the journey of becoming better runners and individuals. If we can have a present-centered focus, work hard during practice, and then race with mental toughness and a never-give-up, never-give-in attitude, we will hold our own against the best this state has to offer,” said Sloan.

Some of the runners feel like they have had individual successes, but are still working to improve their times.

“I have personally done well this season. I am still waiting for a fast course so that I can run my best time, but I have worked hard over the offseason and the season so far and have been running well consistently,” said senior Charlie Siebert.

Others, like junior Malcom Waite, feel that they could be doing better but are working hard to improve their times for cross-country and their spring track seasons.

“I should have trained even harder than I did in the off-season and I will rectify this come track,” said Waite.

Though COVID-19 has caused many changes to the way that practices and meets operate. The team has kept  a positive mindset and has enjoyed running.

“In such a strange year, the team and I are just grateful to have the opportunity to work out each day and race to show what we are capable of. It’s a blessing,” said Sloan.

While the team has done well so far, the future of their season will be tough, as  they will compete against more teams.

“Our biggest challenges lie ahead with the IHSA Loyola Regional on Saturday Oct. 24 and then the Hoffman Estates Sectional on Halloween. We will be able to compete against some new teams outside of our conference/IL Phase 4 COVID-19 region. So, that will be fun and will present a new challenge.” said Sloan.