by Blake Krantz
Boys’ cross country, 1-1, defeated Norwood but lost to Needham in the team’s first meet this season, a “solid first race” in which the Tigers “ran about as well as [they] expected to,” according to senior Alex Montague, a captain with senior Siddharth Nizamuddin.
According to Nizamuddin, the team was able to “put up a good fight against one of the best teams in the state,” Needham.
Montague added that the team had “a few key runners injured” who “hopefully will be healthy” for the team’s next meet Thursday against Framingham.
Coach Jim Blackburn added that although the team cannot achieve its goal of an undefeated season this year, the loss to Needham helped the Tigers understand what it takes to succeed.
“We learned that it’s all about doing the work in the summer. When we begin the season there is not enough time to get into top shape for the early meets. You have to have trained hard during the summer.”
Moving forward, Blackburn explained that the team will “focus on stepping up the pace” in practices, in order to put itself in the best position to “win its other league meets and compete in the state meets.”
Nizamuddin emphasized that the Tigers “have a very strong team community” right now, with just one week elapsed in the season.
After what Montague labeled as a “rebuilding year” last year for the Tigers, he said that the team’s main goal this season will be to “show some consistency after struggling with injuries and inexperience” last season.
According to Montage, the team will look to win most of its meets in the next few weeks, hoping to “build up to qualifying for the state championship as a team” despite the early loss.