Captain Alex Fleury ’20 is the fastest runner on Andover Boys Cross Country.
According to Fleury, during his first year as the Captain he aimed to emulate the roles his previous captains played by setting a standard of inclusivity and working to develop a constructive team atmosphere.
“Last year, being a Captain for the first time, I was a little nervous going into the same environment I’ve been in the past couple of years but having a different role. I knew that similar to how previous captains reached out to me and made me feel really comfortable on the team, I wanted to reflect that kind of behavior as a Captain. I thought that the other leaders on the team and I did a really good job of bringing the culture of the team together and making sure that everybody felt comfortable and felt like they were in a place where they could succeed both as an athlete and a student,” Fleury said.
Fleury recognizes the importance of learning from his past experiences and using them to strengthen his role as a leader.
“Last year, one of the things that I learned was that it’s very important at the end of practices to keep the team together to do core work. We wanted to make sure to have as many people as possible stick around so that the team could get stronger and get to know each other,” said Fleury.
He continued, “For this year, I’m going to try to have everyone stick together, especially on the easier days. It’s important to emphasize group running and we have to make sure that no one’s ever running alone. These groups also help us improve during races by helping everyone push each other in their own pack.”
According to teammates Doug Yang ’20 and Jake DiAdamo ’21, Fleury emphasizes the value of maintaining focus in practice, especially during warmups and stretches.
“You can see him trying to really push all his teammates to not only do the runs we do daily, but also the stretches and dynamic warmups that we do. I can see him actually trying to push people to perfect those warmups because he sees the value in them and helps us see the value in these warmups,” said Yang.
DiAdamo added, “Alex shows his leadership by being friendly but also staying very focused on the task at hand. Especially during warmups, he makes sure everyone is staying on task and putting in the effort.”
In addition to being a great leader at practice, Fleury is a talented competitor and an important contributor to the success of the team during meets, according to teammates Sam Capobianco ’21 and DiAdamo.
“During races, Alex is a very motivated athlete. He goes after what he wants and does not stop until he gets it. He’s focused and motivated and a great athlete overall,” wrote Capobianco in an email to The Phillipian.
“He is our best runner. He’s very experienced and never seems worried before a race. His [personal record] his Lower year was only 28 seconds slower than the course record,” added DiAdamo.
According to Yang, Fleury is not only a motivating and diligent leader, but also a compassionate and attentive teammate.
“He really encourages his teammates and in general he is a very disciplined and supportive Captain because it doesn’t matter what you’re coming into the sport as. Whether you’re a completely untrained runner or you’ve been running for a long time, I would still see him in the back talking to freshmen and other new runners and that shows that he really cares about everyone on the team,” said Yang.
Fleury’s greatest priority for the season is creating an environment where everyone feels supported and energized to pursue their goals and reach their greatest potential.
“My main goal is to make sure that everyone on the team has someone on the team to talk to because I won’t be able to talk to everyone at the same time. It’s really important that everyone is comfortable with going out and running with someone else on the team. I’m also going to try to gauge everyone’s goals for the season in terms of staying healthy as well as racing to the best of their abilities and I’m going to do my best to help them reach their goals,” he said.
