The boys’ cross country team won the CMASS tournament on Oct. 29 and also placed first at the Midland-Wachusett League Meet on Oct. 22. This year’s team captains are seniors Jack Battles, Mark Cayer, Gavin Moran, Ben Schanzer and Luke Trask. Battles reflected on the team’s season as well as their postseason goals.

What has led to your team having a strong season thus far?

“Younger guys stepping up. Our team is very young and that has led to our success as well as the main training over the summer which is the main focus. If you train over the summer, you’ll be ready for that fall season.”

What is your team dynamic like?

“Since our team is so large, since there’s no cuts, we often have different groups but we are very close…In general we have pasta parties in groups that we stretch in before and after practice. For a big team, we’re really close. This continues throughout the school year especially since I’ve been on the team for four years…. I’ve become friends with many of the guys.”

What players have especially stepped up this season and how?

“[Junior] Joe Lamburn has been our guy [this year] and he was our guy last year. He’s great… We also have young guys such as freshmen Jeff Tan and Jonah Gould, as well as junior Matt Zhang…We have a really strong young core and the backbone of the team. I think it’s very important.” 

What’s coming up for the team and how are you feeling about the postseason prospects?

“This [past] weekend we had our league meet, which means we ran against all the teams within our division, which is always exciting running against our rivals. After that our varsity [running] in states, which is definitely the biggest state that we will be running in as well as the most important for us as a team.…It’s definitely exciting looking at the sophomores and juniors that we have already, especially the freshmen that will be on one more year of training…[for the season] I think next year, even though I won’t be here as well as none of my fellow seniors will be, [the team] looks like it’s gonna be pretty darn good.”