This past weekend Choate’s Varsity and Junior Varsity Cross Country teams ran in the New England Races at Avon Old Farms. The teams faced off against some of their Founder’s League rivals as well as many strong teams from the northern part of New England. Perennial powerhouses such as Exeter, Andover, and St. Paul’s stole the show at New England’s but several Choate runners were able to make their marks and highlight a terrific end to yet another successful campaign.
Both the Boys’ Varsity and Junior Varsity Cross Country teams were coming off impressive first place finishes in their respective Founder’s League meets at Westminster two weeks ago. Again the boys did not fail to impress as they both finished in fourth place behind the same three schools, Andover, Exeter, and St. Paul’s. The Varsity Boys’ top three runners, Sam Craft ’10, Robbie Cholnoky ’09 and Ryan Rice ’09, finished in 13th 14th and 15th place, respectively, to earn All-New England Honors. Craft beat Cholnoky by just three tenths of a second to earn Choate’s highest individual finish. “Being All-New England was a goal I had since last year, and doing it with two of my teammates made it all the more memorable. The last time Choate had three All-New England runners was in 2003 when we put three in the top five,” said Cross Country Co-Captain Cholnoky. Finally, on a day that all other Choate teams faced off against Deerfield, both the Varsity and Junior Varsity Boys’ teams edged out their rivals by coming in 4th, while the Doors came in 5th in both races.
After 3rd and 4th place finishes for the Girls’ Varsity and Junior Varsity teams, respectively, at the Founder’s League Championships, the girls were looking to better these finishes “against the best competition of the season,” said Coach James Davidson. Expectations for Caroline Bazinet ’10 were also very high after she came off her resounding individual victory at the Founder’s Championships. The Varsity Girls’ were seeded seventh in race and ended up finishing in sixth. Davidson was quite impressed by Bazinet’s race, “Caroline Bazinet ran a great, strategic race! The only non-senior in the top 5, she broke the old course record by over 30 seconds,” he said. Choate’s second and third place finishers were Co-Captains Stephanie Choi ’09 in 23rd place and Mary Hawkins in 41st place. Their impressive finishes in the 76-person race catapulted Choate into 6th place as a team. The Girls’ Junior Varsity team also fared well, finishing in 4th place. Once again, both the Girls Varsity and Junior Varsity teams beat Deerfield in the New England Race on Deerfield day.
Both the Boys’ and Girls’ teams capped off impressive seasons with their finishes in the New England races. Both teams, however, are losing many key seniors but there are plenty of young runners to pick up the slack for several years to come. “Being able to put Choate back in the mix will hopefully encourage our young squad to step up and compete next year as a team for the top spot in New England. Right now I see a team with huge potential and a bright future, and I wish them well,” said Cholnoky.
