Andover Boys Cross Country continued its undefeated season with two decisive victories on Saturday and Wednesday against St. Paul’s and Choate respectively. Renat Zalov ’11 led the Andover pack and won at both St. Paul’s and Choate with strong times 16:29 and 16:43. With his dominance, Zalov has emerged as a contender for the individual title at the New England Championships. Andover arrived late at Choate due to SAT tests and was forced to execute a rushed warmup. Despite the inconvenience, Andover maintained its focus and performed well on Choate’s relatively mountainous course. Zalov ran an especially strategic and well-executed race and ended up beating Choate’s top two runners by 15 seconds for the win. Coach Jeffrey Domina was excited with how the team ran at Choate, saying, “We brought in our seventh before their third, which was just what we’d hoped to do”. By finishing its whole varsity seven before Choate’s third runner, Andover effectively ousted Choate from competing. Andover won by a final score of 23-38. The top seven Andover runners, which included Zalov, Captain Patrick Wolber ’11, and Tim McLaughlin ‘11 all ran extremely well and had some serious momentum going into their race at St. Paul’s, which they rightfully expected to have similar success in. “We knew we wouldn’t have much competition up front”, Coach Domina said about the St. Paul’s team. “The boys ran the gorgeous St. Paul’s course brilliantly, carrying everyone along and keeping the pack tight and fast.” Led by Zalov, who was closely followed by Wolber, only seven seconds separating the two teammates, the Andover runners dominated the field, finishing with the top six times on a beautiful St. Paul’s course. The team swept through with an almost perfect score of 15-48. The JV team also found success this Wednesday, winning by a score of 15-49. Kian Ivey ’12 and Ben Ho ’11 both returned from injury to push the team forward with second and third place finishes respectively, while Fernando Ramos ’12 won the JV race with a time of 19:02. Undefeated so far, Andover’s varsity squad has been running healthy without many of the chronic injuries and sickness that plagued the team going into the New England Championships last year. With only four weeks until the Championship, the team looks to maintain its momentum while staying healthy in order to peak on championship race day. The team will head to Mount Hermon, MA next week to race the Northfield Mount Hermon School. Although Andover Boys Cross Country has already beaten NMH this season, it hopes to continue its unmatched season with another perfect score.
