Led by Co-Captain Ben Bramhall ’07 and a pack of strong Lowers, the Varsity Boys Cross Country team ran admirably in the first home race of the season. The race was an unscored “developmental invitational”, emphasizing personal improvement of individual runners. However, Andover was still able to show its power against the five other competing teams: Exeter, Cushing, Loomis Chaffee, Northfield Mount Herman and Worchester. As Co-Captain Ken Watari ’07 commented, “The team performed the best I could imagine.” To add a new challenge to the course, athletes raced the sanctuary loop backwards. Despite the light, fun atmosphere of the race, the competition was tough. For the second consecutive week, the two Taye brothers from Cushing controlled the field. Exeter also brought a handful of its top runners, further motivating the Andover boys. Fueled with excitement about running the first race on its home course, the Andover runners began the 5K strongly. Co-Captain Bramhall was just behind the Taye brothers and Exeter’s Graham Keggi as the boys rounded the Great Lawn. First to emerge on the final lap of the Great Lawn was Ayalew Taye, who ran a national-caliber race and broke the regular course record by 16 seconds with a time of 15:24. Next in line was Sintayehu Taye (16:02) closely followed by Keggi. Co-Captain Bramhall was the first Andover runner to cross the line, in fourth at 16:31. He ran a smart race, retaining his spot throughout the course. The true thrill of the race came from the finishes of the next dozen runners from Andover, Exeter and Cushing. Dave Wilson ’09 finished fifth at 16:49, passing Mark Nelson of Exeter. Mike Discenza ’09 had a spectacular finish, sprinting past three opponents on the last straightaway to cross the line eighth at 16:57. Next to finish for Andover was Addison Godine ’07 in 12th place, Eli Howe ‘09 in 15th and Evan Moore in 16th. Each of them ran exceptional races, coming in with times of 17:07, 17:18 and 17:27 respectively. Capping off the varsity squad were Alex Hugon ’07 (17:52), Steve Stapczynski ’07 (18:20), Jim Ricker ‘09 (18:26), and Hanson Causbie ’08 (19:25). All four of the boys demonstrated hard work and endurance in their races. The Friday before the race, the team celebrated the return of Coach Jon Stableford, who came to the campus having recovered from illness. Co-captain Watari was particularly thrilled: “Coach Stableford’s presence and spirit adds confidence and strength to the team, [and] we feel much stronger with him.” After the race, Coach Stableford was deeply impressed: “I was absolutely delighted by the team’s performance. It is clear to me that they have trained well under Coach Domina and that they are maturing as athletes. I can see a real core of championship runners in our top seven as they finished on Saturday, most with personal bests. It is also clear that there is no significant gap between Exeter and Andover at this time, so the development over the season will be the key when we head to Interschols in November.” Motivated by this week’s success, the team looks forward to next weekend when they will travel to Choate Rosemary Hall for their first dual meet of the season.