For the third straight year, the teamwork and dedication of the Salesianum Cross Country team over the long season resulted in a state championship. The season began in September with the Cherokee Challenge race in New Jersey, where their strength began to show after Ethan Walther placed first in the Junior race, and the team won the meet. After this, the team traveled to Virginia, where they swept in all 3 relays. The team next competed in Delaware for the Salesianum Invitational at Brandywine Creek State Park, where 28 teams and hundreds of runners competed in 3 separate races. The JVB race had almost 500 runners, and the JVA race had 300. One runner said, “The overwhelming amount of people caused other guys next to me to fall to the ground or get slashed by other runners’ spikes.” Salesianum ended up placing a strong second in the Invitational.
After this, the Cross Country team went on to place second at the Great American race in North Carolina, and the JV team went on to place second in the Manhattan Invitational. Then, Salesianum beat St. Mark’s High School in the Catholic Conference meet. The winning continued as the Cross Country team traveled to Winterthur for the County Championship. Cross Country Senior Deron Tchuente talked about the meet’s importance, stating “The race itself gave everyone except varsity a chance to unify together as a whole to compete against each other, an opportunity we don’t get as we’re separated into 3 groups in the JV section of our team.” Salesianum beat out 31 teams and won the County Championship in both JV and Varsity.
One week later, Salesianum returned to Brandywine Creek State Park for the State Championships, racing against 36 teams. All seven of Salesianum’s Varsity runners placed in the top 15, Ethan Walther placed first, Sam Felice placed second, followed by James Kennedy (7), James Dempsey (11), Ian Sabia (12), Kaleb Kain (14), and Chase Coda (15). As a result of these strong finishes, the Salesianum team edged out a victory over the favorites, Caesar Rodney High School, by a score of 33-36!
Throughout the season the Cross Country team was led by 5 captains: Chase Coda, James Kennedy, Samuel Felice, Ian Sabia, and Deron Tchuente. While reflecting on his season, Deron Tchuente stated, “The reason why I wanted to become an XC captain was because I wanted to share with others the same determination I have for the sport so that everyone on the team can train to be their best version of themselves. I learned that it’s not about who’s the fastest, but it’s about the spirit and determination that lives within the team because this is what encourages everyone to train harder and a team with this mentality will arrive to races prepared to change the race, and not let the race change them.”
The hard work, dedication, and consistency shown by the Cross Country team resulted in a successful season and a third straight state championship.
