LaChance‘07 pushes to the finish line during the Choate Invitational.

With the need to increase the distance to tournament size and the construction of new dorms and a new track, a new Cross Country course has been constructed from the woods and trails that comprise the schools upper campus. The course will be pushed back further behind the “PMAC”, featuring a starting line that runs parallel to Rosemary Lane and more running behind the soccer and field hockey fields in the more rustic part of campus. The finish line has also been moved from its classic position alongside to football field to upper campus. Head Boys’ Cross Country Coach and Athletic Director Ned Gallagher call these changes “a great addition to our program”. The new course will be a full 5K (3.1 miles); lengthened from the old distance of 2.95 miles, just in time for the Boys’ and Girls’ New England Championships next fall.

The new course features more trail running and “more cultured running” according to Girl’s Head Coach Jim Davidson, a 31-year veteran of the program. Gravel was laid and more woodland is involved in the new course. “Facilities have done a great job with the building of the new course,” says Davidson, including its restoration after heavy rains in time for the Choate Invitational. Davidson said coaches from rival Loomis Chaffee “were very impressed” and “surprised that we could put together a course like this on our campus.” Junior runner Chris Krokus agreed, saying “the course felt great, it will take an adjustment, but it felt great.”

It is not lost on anyone that the old course will be missed. The old course was created in 1987, just in time to host the NEPSAC Cross Country Championships. The course hosted the championship a 2nd time in 1997 when the Choate harriers won the championship at home.

An immediate disadvantage for the team is that it will feel like an away course “for about a month” Krokus estimates. Also the inability to compare scores from the past to current runners will be a disappointment for runners trying to set new records. Frank DiVittorio’s 2003 record of 15.01 will be immortalized in Choate history as the fastest on the 2.95 mile course.

The possibility of hosting New England’s in the fall of 2007 was a big motivator in changing the course. Boy’s assistant coach Scott Mattoon says “It is a prime opportunity to put our best foot forward as hosts, as this will be one of the very few opportunities for our peer school competitors to form impressions about our program and our school.” Krokus says “This will be a very big advantage for the team and for me personally as well.” The team knows the home course will become a big advantage as the team approaches New England’s next year, as well as away teams coming to Choate’s course for the first time. Jim Davidson says “Usually the superior team wins the [cross country] race, but when two teams are even, the edge goes to the home team.” That, at any rate, is the plan heading into the next few seasons.