Andover Boys Cross Country opened its season on Saturday, competing at the Manchester Invitational at Derryfield Park in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team placed fourth out of 33 teams in the Boys Large School Varsity race, falling to Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter), St. Johnsbury Academy, and Bishop Hendricken.
The team had a great opener, with a majority of the team achieving personal records on a very hilly and technical course. Robert Budzinski ’26 described this race as a way to test the team’s strength, fitness, and hard work.
“The race went really well. A good majority of the team got PRs, and it was really good to see all of our hard work from the summer pay off. We went into the race just wanting to compete and test our fitness, and I think we definitely did that. There were some tough hills on the course as well and we embraced them and finished strong,” said Budzinski.
Going into the race, the team didn’t set any specific performance goals. Nathan Neu ’26 mentioned that the team’s attitude going into the race was to focus on competing to the best of their ability and showcasing the hard work the team has put in so far.
“Before going to the race, coach sent out an email giving us a word of the meet. The word of the meet was ‘compete,’ and I think that really meant a lot because our goal wasn’t really defined, it was just to go out and see what we could do and compete with the other runners,” said Neu.
With a personal record time of 15:12.5 for five kilometers, Tam Gavenas ’25 placed second out of 270 runners at the meet. The time surpassed the course record by 20 seconds.
Budzinski said, “He got a [personal record] of 18 seconds and ran a time that broke a 20 year old course record. He placed second in a super competitive field. Tam [Gavenas] is a super hard worker, and he really pushes himself in the races. The whole team was super happy for him,” said Budzinski.
Luke Williamson ’25 highlighted the team’s bond and competitive spirit as one of its biggest strengths. He noted that even on the course, the team supports each other through motivating words.
Williamson said, “The guys push each other a lot, which helps. We saw Sebastian [Lemberger ’25] come in third in the JV race, and he ran a really fast time of 17:09 and that really got us hyped up and in the right mindset. During the race, we all push each other and help each other along. In races, we will even say things to each other to encourage one another. We really work together a lot.”
Looking forward, the team hopes to be as successful as possible at the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Division I championship meet and, potentially, Nike Cross Nationals (NXN). Williamson shared that although the team has high hopes performance-wise, it also hopes to continue fostering a strong team dynamic.
“We have a really strong team this year. We definitely have our eyes on placing the highest we can at the NEPSAC championship meet and maybe going to NXN. Something else we are really focused on is building the community. A lot of the team is really close. We hang out a lot and we want to extend that to the entire team because that is really important,” said Williamson.
Andover Boys Cross Country will race at the Black Bear Invitational in New Hampshire on Saturday.
