The Saratoga Springs High School Boys Cross Country team started the 2020 season in a state of uncertainty.
Despite that, they set an intention early-on to make the best of this year’s challenging situation and success followed.
“Our main perspective, when we were talking a lot about the uncertainty, was to do anything we could to have a great season,” said senior Dawson Tooker.
Saratoga is undefeated among the Suburban Council competition this season. They came in first among the 15 teams in the league at their meet on November 21. Then, at this weekend’s regional championship, they were crowned New York State’s top team and the second-best ranked team in the entire Northeast.
SELF-MOTIVATED TO GO THE DISTANCE
They were expecting to have practice on that afternoon last Spring when it was announced school was going to be cancelled because of the pandemic.
From March until June, the 30-40 guys on the XC team trained remotely, running an average of 50 miles/week. In the summer, they stepped it up to between 60-70 miles/week. Once school resumed in the fall, they were still running up to 12 miles/day while also competing in seven remote meets this season.
The Suburban Council exhibited more caution than almost any other league in the state, conducting races remotely. The teams ran independently and then merged their times to determine the winner.
THE HEAT IS ON
The Northeast Championship was the only time this season that Saratoga XC raced in-person at the same location as their competition.
Start times were staggered, with another group running every 30 minutes. Saratoga was the final team on the list.
“There was a little bit of pressure seeing everything in front of you and everyone coming in, there was a high bar to meet – higher than I expected. Despite what anyone else was doing, we just decided we would run our best that day,” said Dawson.
It was a tight spread as one runner came in after another.
“I thought, ‘We got this. I knew we did it,” said senior Max Fredette.
“I really like winning and don’t like losing, so I was happy.”
SHINING AT THE SEASON’S END
Before their Championship run, to celebrate the end of their season, the Saratoga XC team held a drive-through banquet at Pitney Meadows Community Farm.
The runners’ families watched from their cars as awards were handed out, tuning in to hear speeches from their coaches on their car radios.
“It was a really nice way to wrap-up the season,” said Coach Shane Zanetti.
Now that they’ve done so well in the Championship, they have something else to celebrate.
“It was a really great team victory. The Championship victory was a result of running as a team,” he said.
In addition to their fastest runners, it was the tremendous improvements made by other members that accomplished the team’s place in history.
“It’s crazy. It’s a crazy feeling being my age (I’m a freshman) and doing something this big. It’s insane that we got here and I’m super pumped,” said Owen Mansfield.
Senior Brady Tooker expressed a similar sentiment.
“Now that we’re finished, I’m really relieved that we ended it on a really good note,” he said
Although it was an unusual season, they were happy to have the chance to shine.
“I was grateful I got to spend the season with these guys. I enjoyed every second of it,” said senior Shifan Shaffe.
