NorwinXC Boys are back to pack running together so far this season, but it’s a little different this year. On this year’s squad, there is a blend between the varsity team of various grade levels. NorwinXC boys are a mix of young and old–core group of seniors and underclassmen, including freshmen.
The Knights scoring varsity runners often include lettermen senior returners Enzo Jiancristoforo, Thomas Gaydos, Luke Simpson, and Mario Breauchy, joining sophomore Owen Rankin from last year’s squad. The boys pack blends in three freshman who had standout middle school seasons. These runners include Alex Barrett, Ben McBride, and William Little.
“The jump [to varsity] has been pretty much easy considering last year at nationals it was hard to race a 4k and the beginning of this season a 5k was hard now it’s pretty easy,” said freshmen Ben McBride, who took 2nd overall to his teammate Alex Barrett in the 9th Grade race at the prestigious Red, White & Blue Invitational.
The transition to high school running is not only tough physically, but academically.
“I balance my academic life and running life pretty well,” said freshmen William Little. “I take advantage of my study halls to make sure I am caught up.”
“We’ve had some really great pushes for varsity from newcomers freshman Alex and Ben, as well as some senior seniors, including Kaden, Atticus and Maerek, who are juniors and seniors,” Fleckenstein said.
That blended chemistry has led to early season success starting in the summer.
“We meet close to 40 times in the summer,” head coach Brian Fleckenstein said. “We usually meet on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday mornings and Tuesday and Thursday evenings. We try to vary up where we run so that we can incorporate hills and trails and things like that into our training, but the quote is cross country is a sport that’s played out in the fall. Meaning if you don’t train in the summer, he will not do well in the fall to sport of cross country.”
Traditionally the Knights have Invitationals every Saturday, and are very competitive with teams the boys will face in post-season racing. NorwinXC geared up for their first invite of the season in Ohio at Riverside High School Night Meet. The athletes competed under the floodlights and Christmas lights lined the course so the athletes could see during their night race.
Jiancristoforo clocked an impressive 16:02, earning him a medal alongside teammates Breauchy, and Gaydos earning the Knights 5th place overall in the Riverside Invite. Jiancristoforo, a senior, has been one of the Knights frontrunners this season and constantly preps for races.
“I make sure to do the basics, especially the day before I race. I drink a lot of water and go to bed early, and then in the mornings I like to stretch out. This is a pre-race ritual for me and gives me confidence for my race.” [/pullquote]
The following week most varsity runners were rested at the Gateway Invite. Freshmen William Little took on the course earning first for the Norwin boys running a stellar 18:10 on this course earning 10th overall, while some of the varsity runners rested in anticipation of late season championship run.
In another standout performance, Thomas Gaydos made history at the Red, White, and Blue Invite by finishing in 15:58, becoming the first boy to break the 16-minute barrier on the White Oak course since Alex Jubert.
“I am excited for the rest of the season as our team has a good mixture of different grades on varsity,” said Gaydos. “We have good seniors and freshman that will hopefully help us win the Section, County, WPIAL, and make it to States.”
The boys’ team continued their momentum by winning the first section meet against Latrobe and Ligonier, showcasing their strength as a unit. On senior night, the Knights came up strong against Penn-Trafford and Derry at their course, Oak Hollow, solidifying their home advantage.
On September 21, NorwinXC took on the Blue Devil Invitational at Buhl Park. Thomas Gaydos led the Blue Devil race to victory in an exciting race, finishing in 16:12.
To cap off the midpoint of the season the boys further distinguished themselves by defeating Hempfield, and Indiana in a section win to go 6-0 looking to secure another undefeated section title, with Gaydos once again taking the win at the section meet, Luke, and the three freshman stepping up big. Following this the boys won their final section meet against Greensburg Salem, and Yough to secure section champions for the past three years in a row going 8-0 this season, and 24-0 in the past three seasons.
The boys are determined to make a deep post season run with Counties coming up October 9th.
