Varsity Cross Country

BY COACH JOSEF CRESSOTTI

The 2022 Arrows Cross Country season was one of the best in the program’s history. With a fifth place finish at the ISL Championship and an 11-8 record during the regular season, the Arrows finished never higher in over twenty years.

The team, led by captains Sam Hinman ’23, Will Hansen ’23, and Jack Connors ’24, showed their great promise in the first ISL race of the season. Against a perennially tough Groton team, who would go on to finish 2nd in the league, St. Sebastian’s XC lost by just three points. The Arrows took the 3rd through 6th positions in Connors (17:56), Hinman (18:15), 8th grader John Joyce (18:21), and 9th grader Sebastian Culleton (18:34). Newcomer Chris Thompson (’26), in his first ISL race, broke 20 minutes, to round out the team’s top five. With such a strong corps of runners, the

Arrows would be a fierce opponent to the rest of the ISL.

For the next seven weeks, the Arrows trained intensely along the banks of the Charles and in the marshes of Cutler Park, in the hope of improving upon their 8th place finish at ISL's last year. Each member of the team was committed to this goal and encouraged each other to run their best. Returning seniors Michael Kalinichenko, Matthew Choumenkovitch, Thomas Devlin, and Jack Faggiano were joined by juniors Jonathan Demosthene and Liam Gavin. Completing the roster, the team welcomed new additions Chris Thompson '24, Eddie Zhang ’24, Bobby Brady ’24, and Pelle Russo ’24.

Over the next two meets, the Arrows would improve their times, earning victories against Thayer and Brooks while suffering close defeats to Belmont Hill, Tabor, and St. Mark’s. Jack Connors achieved his first outright victory in a race by beating runners from Brooks, Belmont Hill, and Tabor on a hilly Andover course.

On the Friday of Homecoming Weekend, in front of a boisterous Henry’s Corner, the Arrows beat

Milton and Rivers, while coming up short against last year’s champion, Roxbury Latin. As in years past, our home fans transformed the outer fence of the Rashi School’s athletic field into Boylston Street of the Boston Marathon. Runners, Arrows and opponents alike, were greeted with cheers and high fives as they sped to the finish line.

The Arrows continued to improve over the next three weeks, finishing 5-1 against their remaining opponents. In the team’s race against BB&N and Dexter at Fresh Pond, Jack Connors came in first at 16:42, followed by Joyce (17:10), Culleton (17:15), and Hinman (17:36). Chris Thompson posted a season best time of 18:34 to finish fifth for the team.

The highlight of the season was the team’s fifth place finish at the ISL Championship in Wrentham. With an average time of 17:26, the Arrows were only four points away from being on the podium. Both Jack Connors (8th) and Sam Hinman (14th) earned medals for their performance in that race. Of the twelve runners who ran that day, seven set personal records. As a team, the Arrows made huge strides from the start of the season. They beat three teams to whom they previously had lost and cut the gap with each team who beat them in the final. Additionally, no team whom they had beaten came out ahead of them in the final race.

For their performance during the season and the ISL Championship, Jack Connors, Sam Hinman, and John Joyce were named All-ISL. Jack Connors, who ranked 6th in the league and won three races outright, received the Cross Country Coach's Award.

While the Arrows will be losing six seniors next year, with four of our five top runners returning, and promising runners coming up from the middle school team, hopes are high for the 2023 season.