Saturday 10/17 – Andover: 21, St. Paul’s: 51, NMH: 65, Austin Prep: 109
On St. Paul’s course, Andover Boys Cross Country put five runners in the top ten, winning by 30 points over St. Paul’s, Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH), and Austin Preparatory School (Austin Prep) on Saturday. Notably, Max Huang ’24, Luke Williamson ’25, and Jakob Kuelps ’25 secured the top three places, respectively.
With a tough week of training leading up to the meet, the team devised a race plan that accounted for the resulting fatigue. Robert Budzinski ’26, who finished in seventh, noted his teammates’ efforts to help each other with pacing.
“We did a really hard hill workout on Monday, followed by a long run on Wednesday, which was closer to the race than usual since long runs can often leave your legs tired for multiple days. Knowing we were going into the race with tired legs, we kept it really conservative and relaxed for the first two miles. In the last mile, we let loose and gave it what we had. The team executed this plan really well, and we had a really successful race,” said Budzinski.
According to Captain Avin Ramratnam ’24, the teammates’ abilities to commit to the race plan and hold one another accountable was a crucial factor in its success. The team’s mantra of the meet was “lock in.”
“The biggest strength was focus. On the line, we were all super focused. Everyone had a plan and the team had a plan. With our focus and our good mentality, we executed really well in the race. We had a really good strategy going into the race, and we have such a solid group of guys it is rare that we burn out or have a bad race. We all keep each other focused and push each other throughout the race,” said Ramratnam.
Despite being a smaller meet, the team still went into the race anticipating a challenging five kilometers. Kuelps highlighted how the team relied on mutual support to maintain high spirits and confidence in the race.
“We had high expectations of ourselves since we have been training really hard. We all wanted to place well individually and win the meet as a team. We worked together to help our teammates to achieve [personal records]. I know some people were really nervous before the race so it was really important that we had a supportive environment before and during the race,” said Kuelps.
Looking ahead, the team plans to continue expanding on the foundation it has built regarding training and team culture. Ramratnam talked about how camaraderie is the core of the team, with everything else revolving around the team’s relationships.
“Throughout the season, we have established a great camaraderie of perseverance and of grit. We have emphasized mentality a lot, and we are really focused on building on that as we go into the championship season,” said Ranratnam.
Andover Boys Cross Country will race at NMH in a quad meet against Phillips Exeter Academy, Deerfield, and NMH on October 28.
