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By Jonah Rosenbaum
After a fifth place finish at State Finals in Fresno, the boysâ cross country team came home with the best finish in team history.
“We ran a great race and left nothing out there,” said Chris Vanderschans â10.
Kevin On â11 and David Abergel â11 paced the team, coming in together with a time of 16:39. Charlie Stigler â11 and Reid Lidow â10 were close behind, finishing in 17:04 and 17:11 respectively.
“We came into this season with very lofty expectations, we really wanted to win state,” said Vanderschans. But taking fifth place, the highest ever for the boysâ is a great accomplishment, and Iâm really proud of the team.”
Key runners On, Ben Saunders â11 and Vanderschans battled injuries.
“We never let the injuries be an excuse for us, we used them as motivations to practice harder and push ourselves further,” Vanderschans said.
“What we did at state is an incredible accomplishment. We had a lot of obstacles to overcome, but early in the season, after the Woodridge Invitational, we came together as a team and showed our new coach what we can do,” Abergel said. The Woodbridge Invitational is the biggest one-day race in the country. The team finished third.
“Next year we plan on matching the girls and taking home state,” Abergel said.