On September 10, Irvington’s Cross Country team participated in their very first race of the year, marking the start of the cross country season. They competed against 7 other teams and earned 124 points, placing them fifth overall. The team had multiple standout runners that placed in the top 10 for their races such as Aashish Rajakumar (12), Dmitry Obukhov (10), and Geetika Maheshwari (11).  

This year, the team is predicting to do much better with faster runners and more depth throughout the team. Head coach Mr. Tebow emphasized the importance of depth in a team, mentioning, “With cross country, your team’s score is going to be determined by how fast your third, fourth, or fifth person is, and we have a faster third, fourth, or fifth guy this year”. Additionally, team captain Aashish Rajakumar described his predictions for the team this year: “I feel like the team is more unified and connected this year. We have a much stronger depth this season, and a lot of really fast underclassmen”. 

Besides just being fast, one of the team’s biggest strengths is the teammates’ bond with each other and their closeness inside and outside the races. “I feel like we have a sense of unity and we are much more coordinated as a team,” Aashish described. The team also plans on improving this aspect of their team, as Mr. Tebow remarks, “The goal of the team is to develop some speed and some coordination and to grow together so that way everyone is on the same page as each other”.

For many of the team members, racing on cross country is extremely fun for them especially when beating personal records. “I really enjoy running with my friends and especially beating my PRs,” Aashish mentions. Also, Mr. Tebow explained some of the best aspects of cross country: “Running is unique because it’s an individual sport and a team sport at the same time. That way you can have a bad day and still not let your team down, but still help your team a lot by beating your PRs and scoring high, and there’s a lot of dynamics that you can add to the team”. 

Although the team didn’t place as high as they wanted to this race, they are still ecstatic to start the season. The team is already focusing on improving in the next few races and are ready to gain high placements throughout the season. You can see them at their next meet on October 1 at Mission San Jose.