Cross Country Feature

SPORTS

A Running History with Cross Country

Coach Matt Lai

What started out as an extremely small cross country team has grown into a program larger than anyone could have imagined. Head coach, Matt Lai, has been coaching the team intermittently since 2001. He remembered the size of the team back then. “There were three kids on the team the year before I got there. Two graduated, so we only had one returning runner; Peter Trudelle ‘03. We got eight other students to join and ended up with nine kids my first year–eight boys, one girl.” Fast forward to the 2016 team, which consisted of fifty-one runners, twenty-six of them freshmen, which is over a third of the entire freshman class.

So how does a coach build a sizeable program and convince students to join a sport in which some people see as “punishment?” Lai had a possible explanation. “I think kids come in not really knowing what to expect. Lots of kids grow up doing soccer or baseball or football. Not many grow up running long distance. But when they start, they realize it’s a lot more fun than you’d think.”

Cross country is more than just the individual runner; they also compete as a team. “Everyone is working together, supporting each other, all trying to improve,” Lai commented. As a team, the cross country program’s first big year was in 2002 when they first qualified for the State Championships. The team had finished third in CCS by barely edging out Valley Christian 102-104. The 2013 team would make school history with both the boys and girls teams sweeping CCS. It was the first CCS win for the boys, and the second CCS win for the girls team. Looking back, Lai remembers the excitement of the unexpected league finals win by the 2015 girls team. “Our girls came out of nowhere to win. We were walking and cheering on teammates in another race afterwards when they announced it, and none of us were sure if we heard it quite right. Then some parents came running over shouting about it, and everyone just started jumping around.”

As individual runners, the program has had a long history of success. Over the past seventeen years, Priory has sent at least one runner to the State Championships for sixteen of those years. The highest place fi nish in school history was Kat Gregory ’12 who placed third in 2011. The culture of the cross country program has changed over the years. “When I fi rst started, it was like pulling teeth trying to get kids to work hard,” Lai remarked. “Today, much of the culture is just driven by the kids themselves. Hard work is just expected.” Strong leadership by both the coaching staff and the veteran team members help to make the program run smoothly. “The new ones quickly learn from the older ones how we do things. I love it during conditioning and core work at the end of every practice because the captains lead it, and they do more than I would make the team do. I sit back and watch them pushing each other. It’s a beautiful thing,” said Lai. Next season, the team will fi nally be able to train on a proper track. “Having a track helps you dial in your pace a lot and allows us to do intervals more consistently and with less rest. We could never do speedwork on the old ‘track’ because it was short, had 90 degree corners and uneven ground.” It will be interesting to see if the cross country team grows even larger next year with the lure of a new track. One thing is for sure, the cross country team is on a successful path and they are having fun doing it. “We have a very fun atmosphere and culture on the team. There’s a lot of hard work and a lot of laughter.”

The 2013 CCS Championship teams.

Jack Nash ‘18 at the CCS Championships.