The final scuffle of shoes as the runners prepare at the start line, followed by the deafening shot of the starting pistol, signals the beginning of the Manchester Invitational’s Boys Large School Varsity Race. Last Saturday, Boys Cross Country (BXC) made a bold statement in their season opener at Derryfield Park in Manchester, New Hampshire, with the Varsity team placing eighth out of thirty-six schools.
Andover was headed by Tam Gavenas ’25, who led throughout the race into a thunderous first-place finish, beating the second-place runner by thirteen seconds. Head Coach Patrick Rielly believed that Gavenas’s performance of 15:24 versus the second-place finisher’s 15:37 was by far the highlight of the meet.
“The commanding win in the Boys Large School Varsity race by Tam Gavenas [’25] was the race of the day. Tam ran brilliantly from the gun, taking first place, holding it through the muddy hills and chewed-up trails of the legendary Derryfield Park course. In such big races, the race had 249 runners, you try to gain a good position at the start without expending too much energy. Our athletes found their spots, moved up throughout the race, and finished strong,” said Rielly.
Soren Heintz ’28 noted how the team’s emphasis on practicing hills paid off in their performance on the challenging, hilly Manchester course. He also mentioned that the increased running during practices paid off during the race.
“It definitely helped that, during practices, we’ve been running a lot more than we are in races — four to five miles versus the Freshman two-mile race. It helped to build our endurance and prepared us for Manchester’s really difficult, stamina-testing course. A lot of hill work is really helping, too, because this course was really hilly,” said Heintz.
Sean Kim ’26 said that the hills at Derryfield felt similar to those of Andover’s home course, and the team’s practice with attacking longer, steeper hills contributed to their uphill competence in Derryfield. He also noted that the team would benefit from a further emphasis on increasing their aerobic capacity.
“Because we practice on longer, not-as-steep hills, that helped us this meet. It simulated the beginning of Manchester, which is similar to our home course. Training in the [Cochran Bird] Sanctuary helped us get used to the field quicker and run up smaller hills better. Running Heartbreak Hill in practice definitely was especially helpful. Going forward, the team should work more on base-building and developing more aerobic capacity so that we can have more VO2 max in our lungs. Overall, that’s always a good thing to have, especially for new runners, and we have a lot of those this year,” said Kim.
Russ McClaren ’27 emphasized the atmosphere of the meet, noting that the gloomy weather actually helped bring the team together as teammates bonded during the rain. McClaren also noted the areas for improvement that the team could focus on in the upcoming season.
“The rain felt gloomy at first, but it contributed to us feeling more connected as a team because we were sitting around in the cold rain together in between our races. And even though the meet was great and the team spirit was amazing, I feel there was still room for improvement. Not everybody showed up for every race, which is something we should improve on,” said McClaren.
In addition to focusing on strengthening the sense of community and fostering greater team spirit, Coach Rielly outlined some ambitious performance goals for BXC this season. He hopes the team will work towards growing with every practice, ultimately building towards a winning season.
“Going forward, the team will continue to get a little bit stronger every day by working out on the trails, roads, and hills of Andover. Every mile the athletes run is building toward championship season. Both BXC and [Girls Cross Country] (GXC) took second in New England last fall, and we’re going into this season aiming for the top of the podium,” said Rielly.
Boys Cross Country will race at the Black Bear Invitational in New Hampshire on Saturday.
