Cross-Country Virtual Meet Series Takes Off

In her essay entitled “The Sprint,” Emma reflected on her three years of Cross-Country experience. Her beautiful description encompasses a typical meet experience, full of runners from schools all over the DC area. She writes: “Time flies by, and I can hear the cheers of family and friends right behind the hill, so I run a little faster just to get ready. As I approach closer, I see more family and coaches, urging the slow runners to give it their best shot… I speed through like a dart coming straight for the bullseye, and pass numbers of runners as easy as that.”

In the Lowell Virtual Cross-Country Kickoff Meet, there were no live in-person runners to pass or cheers from family and friends. No teammates or coaches to challenge you to do your best. It would have been easy to put the running shoes in the closet and forget about the season. Most teams did. But the Leopards, a six-time defending small school champion, refused to give up and trained throughout the summer. The team is meeting virtually for practices— doing butt kicks and high knees in their hallways, basements, and kitchens, doing whatever it takes to prepare themselves to do their absolute best. Lowell’s 2020 Cross Country team must rely on self-motivation, passion, and pride. As they ran their races, each in a different neighborhood, every athlete gave it everything they got—competing as hard as they could. The Leopards knew that there was an opponent hot on their tail—even though they couldn’t see or hear them. The results were simply extraordinary.

The Lowell Girls came in 3rd-6th—an epic pack that brought the team to victory! The Leopards were led by an incredible performance by Zoe, who returned to the under 20:00 club. Zoe is back and ready to rock—running 19:59 and taking 3rd place overall. With limitless talent, Zoe ran a strong race on a difficult course! Ursula, who has trained relentlessly, ran an incredible 20:32. This is well over a minute faster than her first race last season—she continues to improve every time she runs! Emma, quoted above, is now in her fourth season on the team. Her time of 21:28 is a fabulous performance, and she brings great energy to every practice. Soraya (22:26), Willa (23:10), and Nora (24:16) are all new to the team this season—and each runner has given 100%. Soraya, who did her race on a track, negative split (which means she ran the second half faster than the first). Willa, using short quick strides to get up the hill, had a fabulous debut, and Nora has been working hard since preseason in August. It has truly paid off! Naiah, coming off an elite season in which she led the girls to their best-ever finish at the MD/DC Championships, returned to action with a solid 25:04 start—paced a bit by her brother Elias. Evie P, now back for her 2nd season, ran FOUR MINUTES than her first race last fall! Evie came in at an excellent 26:20.

Under the best of circumstances, it is unusual to run a personal record (PR) in the first meet of the season. That didn’t stop our virtual pack of Amare (21:05) and Charlie (21:19). Just like last season, when the two were running physically together, their efforts were lock in step—Amare dropped 1:39 off his PR from 2019, and Charlie dropped 1:37! The boys were led by Grayson, competing in his first-ever meet and coming in 3rd place overall in an exceptional time of 19:07. Rounding out the top five included Graham, who ran exceptional 21:51 (a minute faster than his first meet last season), Paolo (23:28) in an uphill climb on 16th Street, and Oliver (25:00), who continues to show a great attitude and extraordinary improvement now in his second season. Paolo, now an 8th Grade Captain, has taken on a key role, leading exercises over zoom during our warm-up.

Our next meet is Tuesday, Sept. 29, and Wednesday, Sept. 30. More schools are joining us for the second event in the Lowell Virtual Cross-Country Meet Series.