Saturday, November 4th, was a great day for the St. Anthony’s freshman girls’ XC team.
The Friars won the City Championship race, following their NSCHGAA League Championship victory from the week before. The Friars haven’t won the City race for a long time, so the victory is huge mark of success for the Friars. Congratulations to the freshman girls, they’ve had a fantastic season!
Below is freshman runners Melissa Cunningham’s and Lindsey Schwasnick’s description of the race:
The morning of the race, all the girls were extremely anxious. The temperature was in the high 40’s and the wind was blowing heavily. Not only this but everyone was exhausted from the early bus ride as well.
Once the team arrived at Van Cortlandt Park, Victoria Delia, our coach, gave us a strategy for success. She gave us tips on how to conquer the beginning, middle, and end of the race. After, we were told to all warm up, we sang songs while we stretched. This helped us relieve our nerves before the big race.
A few minutes before the gun went off, we went through our routine that we do before every race: stride outs and prayer.
When the gun went off, all of our nerves disappeared and we focused on “getting out,” as Coach Delia says.
The beginning of the course was a big, green field. The field was completely flat, but it was extremely long so many people burnt out during this section of the race. Luckily for the team, we already knew the perfect pace at which to start, so we didn’t burn out.
Once the girls entered the woods, there were two hills. One hill was tiny and the other hill was long and steep. Neither of these hills made any of the girls tired.
The last part of the course was a long, steep downhill. All of the girls knew how to conquer this hill. This gave them an advantage against the other teams.
In the end, the freshman won with a 35 point lead above the team in second, Sacred Heart Academy. The girls each got an individual gold medal and received a plaque, which will be placed on the school wall.
The girls brought home the City Championship, and couldn’t have done so without working together as a team. This goes to show that teamwork is half the battle and it can really make or break a season.
