Tam Gavenas ’25 capped off his high school cross country career with a first-place finish at Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals on Saturday, December 14th. Gavenas ran with determination and strategy through Balboa Park in San Diego, California to secure his victory, becoming the first Massachusetts-based athlete to win the event since 1997.
Gavenas highlighted that after competing in the race for the past couple of years and placing third in 2023, he was set on winning this year.
“It’s been four years that I’ve been trying to get the win, and I qualified for the Foot Locker Nationals when I was a Sophomore (Lower) and then qualified again when I was a Junior (Upper). I came in third when I was a Junior, and I just looked at a year plan and I wanted to win,” said Gavenas.
The shift from the frigid Massachusetts winter to the warmer climate of California provided Gavenas with an advantage, alleviating the cold-induced tension in his legs. He noted that, although the course was easier than the one he raced on earlier in the season, the San Diego hills still posed a challenge that required training.
“It’s a lot warmer. My legs felt a lot less tense. The course was not as hard as my first race of the season, [the] Manchester Invitational, where I broke the course record there, but we did need to have a strategic plan because the hills in San Diego were very tough. We practiced the week on [the] Ward reservation and I practiced this 300-meter hill five times and just wanted to get that feeling once I was in San Diego. It was crazy. It was like 27 degrees that day; I was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. So it was a great change when I was in the warmer weather,” said Gavenas.
For Gavenas and Head Boys’ Cross-Country Coach Patrick Rielly, winning Foot Locker Nationals has been a goal since before the season even began. Rielly commended Gavenas’ strong training regime and his ability to persist through setbacks. Furthermore, Rielly praised how Gavenas navigated through the winding, hilly terrain of the course.
“We had circled Foot Locker Nationals on the calendar before the season started as the target race for the fall. Tam trained exceptionally well throughout the summer, and despite an injury setback mid-season, he had a very strong final month of training leading into [the] Foot Locker nationals. Tam always brings his best to big meets: he’s always “in it to win it.” And the goal for nationals was to stay in the mix near the front of the pack and make a move late in the race. The steep, winding hill that runners face at the 1-mile and 2.5-mile point at Balboa Park is the key to the course, and in Tam’s training before nationals, he focused on building the strength and speed necessary to be at his strongest at these points in the race. He planned to make a move on the turns after the steepest part of the second hill, and when he arrived at that spot, neck and neck with another runner, he put on the jets and nobody could catch him. It was a killer move,” said Rielly.
Motivated by the phrase “run the lines,” Gavenas’ strategy was impressive, running as efficiently as possible through the course. Rielly acknowledged the courage and confidence that Gavenas embodied throughout.
“Tam ran brilliantly to win the national championship. A key phrase for him was “run the lines”: by running the tangents of a course, the shortest distance between two points, a runner can optimize their race by running the fewest meters possible. He practiced his strategy on the course before the race, and he studied the videos of past races to see how other successful runners approached the course. On the big day, Tam ran perfect tangents. It takes courage and trust in yourself to run separately from the pack, and in his race, Tam showed that he has both,” said Rielly.
In addition to winning the National Foot Locker Championship, Gavenas also made history, becoming the first national champion to be displayed on the iconic billboards in Times Square.
“They decided, ‘Hey, we really like this kid, he’s easy to film. Why not?’ And this was the first time a billboard had ever happened. They want to continue it [in] future years, but this was the first time they had ever put the national champion in Times Square. So that’s really cool that I was the first person,” said Gavenas.
Gavenas’ journey to victory extends beyond the constant training and tenacity he has exhibited throughout his career. A mentor and friend of Gavenas, Rielly reflects on the joyous and unforgettable memories of accompanying Gavenas over the past few years.
“Besides the moment of seeing him at the finish line, one moment from the trip stands out to me: for each of the last three years Tam has qualified for XC nationals, we’ve always found an hour in the days leading up to the race to play table tennis by the pool of the hotel overlooking Torrey Pines. It has nothing to do with running or the race; it’s just about enjoying the experience and being in California in December. In addition to the great fun of running, I’ll always remember these moments surrounding the race as times when I felt proudest and luckiest to be able to support Tam in his successes in the sport,” said Rielly.
Gavenas’s discipline and diligence throughout his time as a cross-country runner have earned him a promising career in both his athletic and academic careers. Gavenas’ choice to attend Harvard, ranked 11th nationally for its cross-country program, this upcoming fall will provide the resources for Gavenas to excel in his academic career while also allowing him to elevate his athletic ability to the next level.
“I’m just really excited to be around people who can really push me. Having a whole community that is really engaged in their sport is a really important factor in having a good college career. I wanted to be in an extremely elite academic space and then have that balance with an extremely elite athletic space, and they’re gonna provide it really well. I want to be able to get into my freshman season and just have a really good feel [for] the program. I’m in an amazing community that’s really welcoming and [Andover has] already done that really well. But I want to be able to ease into it; [Harvard’s] a really challenging school, just like Andover. The focus is to challenge me. For example, Graham Blanks, who’s a two-time NCAA champion cross country Olympian, I want to be able to reach his level. I don’t know when it will be, but I know if I continue on a path Coach Gibby has created, then I will be successful,” said Gavenas.
