by Jacob Gurvis
Looking to continue a long history of success and dominance for the prestigious Tiger running programs, boys’ cross country, 7-4, did not disappoint this season.
Coach Jim Blackburn said the Tigers have improved during the season, but that they “always can get better.”
Senior Carter Harrison, a captain with seniors Perry Miller and John Sava, said the team kept up its skill level from recent years.
“This season the team completed some really hard workouts, reaching up to the caliber of some of the best runners we have had in past years. We also were able to race as a team staying in tight packs, which was really effective in big meets,” he said.
Despite the consistent success throughout the season, Harrison noted the Tigers’ racing strategy as an area that needs improvement.
“As a team we were often inconsistent, and lost a few meets that we could have won. In my opinion the work we put in on the road did not add up to the times a lot of us got in races,” he said.
Both Blackburn and Harrison noted two particular runners who have stood out this season, freshmen Jacob Jampel and Andrew Mah. According to Blackburn, the team’s “outstanding freshmen” finished 23rd and 24th in the Championship Meet with all 12 teams competing in the same race. Harrison called the two a “duo to look out for in the future.”
Blackburn also named Sava, a league All-Star, and junior Siddharth Nizamuddin as two of the team’s strongest performers.
Harrison mentioned Sava and Nizamuddin, as well as junior Alex Montague, as runners who “have been really strong trading off first place, although Alex suffered an injury at the end of the season.”
Last Saturday the Tigers placed twelfth at the Eastern Massachusetts Championship meet.
For Blackburn, the highlight of the successful season was the Tigers’ defeat of Framingham and Natick in the Bay State League Championship meet. The Tigers had lost to both previously.
A different meet, an early season victory against Wellesley, was Harrison’s highlight. “We had a few people who weren’t expected to step up, and we proved that it is not one superstar, but a team that wins meets,” he said.