Schools
Wood Cross Country Revs Up For Upcoming Season
The Archbishop Wood cross country team kicked off their season on Saturday morning with the annual alumni race - a 3.1 mile run around the trails at Tamanend Park in Upper Southampton.
While many were busy preparing for Hurricane Irene, Archbishop Wood’s cross country team was busy preparing for its upcoming season by holding the annual alumni race at in Upper Southampton Saturday morning.
A combination of former and current Archbishop Wood cross county members made up the nearly 60 runners who participated in the race at 10 a.m. Some of the alumni running the 3.1 mile track were from teams as far back as 1978.
The alumni race started under former coach John Sharp, who served as head coach to the cross county team for 33 years.
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“It’s just a fun way for the alumni to meet and have some friendly competition,” said assistant coach Betty Doyle, “It’s our way of kicking off the season.”
Doyle served as head coach for two years before current head coach, Fran McLaughlin, took over the position.
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During McLaughlin’s time as head coach, the girls cross country team has seen the winning of a league championship, a district championship and placing seventh in the state.
McLaughlin is hoping to walk away with much more this season. Last season, the two teams were neck and neck with some of the best teams in the Catholic League, falling behind by mere seconds.
“Our rivals are definitely La Salle and O’Hara,” said boys cross country runner Jimmy Booigitz. Booigitz, who was unable to finish the race on Saturday after tripping over a tree root at the half mile mark and spraining his ankle, said that he thinks Wood can beat the two rival teams this season.
Coach McLaughlin agrees. “Running is 90 percent mental,” McLaughlin said, “If they can put it in their heads that they can run with these other guys, then they’ll do it.”
Last season, the boys team fell behind mostly because of damaged spirits, McLaughlin said, but they’re not giving up.
“The boys team has definitely bounced back. There’s guys out here running times by themselves without any competition,” he said.
Leading the boys cross country team are senior Captains Chris Muldoon and Tim Flanagan.
The teams will have their first chance to face their rivals this season at the John Sharp Viking Invitational on Sept. 9 at Tamanend Park with roughly 35 teams coming out.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve placed in the top three at our own invitational,” McLaughlin said, “I don’t put a lot of stock into it. You can’t be ready to run in September and be ready to run in November, and I want to be ready to run in November.”
