On September 6, Irvington’s Cross Country team attended their second meet of the year at Mission San Jose High School. Freshmen and sophomore boys competed in the 2 miles Frosh/Soph run, JV boys and girls competed respectively in the 2 miles men’s JV race and the 2 miles JV women’s race, and Varsity competed in the races for their respective genders for 3 miles.

The weather made this particular meet difficult as the temperature hit the 80s, with few clouds and breeze to reduce the heat. In addition, the course was not an easy one and not something the runners were used to as it was hillier than typical, especially compared to the first meet of the year. “Last week it was a completely flat course,” a member of the JV boys team, Nathan Woolsey (11), recounted, “This week we had elevation, so there was a part going up and it was definitely difficult.”

Overall, Irvington performed solidly considering the conditions, sitting around the middle of the rankings for most categories, with the highest ranking being second of the eight schools attending in the women’s 2 miles junior varsity event. Notably, Clarisa Miclaus (10) placed 3rd in the junior varsity event. “This is her first season and she’s been performing pretty well,” Melissa Tebow, assistant coach of the team, praised.

“I feel like overall considering it was our first three mile for our varsity folks, I think we did pretty good today,” said Mrs. Tebow. The team this year is coached by both her and Patrick Tebow, who is the head coach, and it is their first year coaching the team.

Although the results are not particularly outstanding, it is expected as the team’s training strategy is to slowly build up the skills for running, which is helpful in preventing injuries. “Our goal is to build and hit our peak at the end of the season, as opposed to try to throw too much at them right now,” Mrs. Tebow emphasized.

Cross Country’s next meet will be the Crystal Springs Invitational occurring October 7 at the Crystal Springs Cross Country Course.