Cross Country
Wildcats cross-country wraps up successful season
By Kevin Higgins
YORK - On Saturday, Nov. 11, the York girls' cross-country team competed in its second straight New England Championship race, held at Ponagansett High School in North Scituate, R. I.The girls placed 29th overall, with 700 points.
Lacey Cartier led the way for York, as usual, finishing in 72nd place.
In a race of this size, runners cross the finish line in rapid succession. Annie Boardman and Molly Carl placed 204th and 210th, respectively, separated by six places and only three seconds. Reaha Goyetche, 232nd, and Monique Boutin, 233rd, followed shortly after, both crossing the finish line in the span of a single second. Kylie Vallee and Cara Cavalieri rounded out the York squad, placing in 255th and 261st, respectively.
Wednesday, Nov. 8, the Wildcat cross-country runners gathered at York High School for the annual Fall Sports Awards Night. The runners all gathered in the commons afterwards to watch the slideshow, compiled of hundreds of pictures taken since the beginning of the season. Finally, parents and runners set about devouring the piles of food brought in hopes of filling out the runners again.
This year, the girls' team featured an undefeated season, with one tie. They finished fourth at the Western Maine meet, second at the regional meet, third at the state meet and 29th at the New England meet.
The boys' team posted a 9-4 record. They placed fourth at the Western Maine meet, fifth at the regional meet and ninth at the state meet.
Seniors Nick McMahon and Tom Ciampa share the honor of most valuable player for the boys' team this year. Each spent half of the season as the top runner for the team, pacing the team through grueling workouts and arduous races.
Matt Wagner received the most improved runner award. The senior started out as the 48th runner on the 48-man squad his freshman year. Through a massive amount of hard work and determination, he steadily moved up on the rankings, breaking into the top 10 his senior year.
Kevin Higgins earned the "comeback kid" award. In the fall 0f 2005, he tore a knee ligament, but recovered enough to run at the end of the cross-country season. In the spring of 2006, he was diagnosed with kidney stones, and underwent surgery over the summer. Just before school started this fall, he had his wisdom teeth removed. But by the end of the season, he had recovered and moved up from 18th to fifth on the team.
At the end of each season, the runners vote on the captains for the next year.
For the boys, Ryan Means, Luke Graziano and Nat Freeman will be leading the team through summer running and next year's cross-country season.
On the girls' side, Glenn Swanson, Kylie Vallee and Cara Cavalieri will do the same.
