Having qualified for the state meet, the boys’ cross country team continued its efforts to rebuild this past fall season.

History teacher Tim Callinan has been coaching in the district for 14 years. For the past two years, he has served as the head coach of the boys’ cross-country team having previously served as the head coach of the girls’ team. 

Ahead of the fall season, Callinan said his goals for the team included the boys growing into the spaces they created last year and continuing their success from last season. 

“We are hoping to win the divisional meet next week, a shot at winning the sectional meet, make the state meet, and improve our place from 2023,” Callinan said.

Junior Jacob Wickersham has been on the team since his freshman year and knows its potential. Having run with current D1 athletes, Wickersham said he enjoys the sport more now and looks to build on his former teammates’ success.

“I didn’t really get super into it until freshman year when I met all the seniors on the track team like Matt McCarron, the Coceanos, and the Stortis,” Wickersham said. “They inspired me to really try my hardest.”

With that in mind, Wickersham finished the season strong having won the Group 2 Central Sectionals and finished 44th overall in the Meet of Champions at Holmdel. As a current junior, he’ll have one more high school cross-country season to show off his abilities. 

For senior Brandon Smith, this past cross-country season was his last. Having been on the team for two years, Smith said he has learned a lot of different lessons from the sport but most importantly that consistency pays off. 

“As a senior, I want the younger guys, especially the freshmen, to see how much they can accomplish by just putting in the work day by day,” Smith said. 

Despite his short time on the team having joined junior year, Smith said his time on the team has impacted him greatly. 

“This being my last season feels like I’m losing a part of myself; however, I’ll have these memories for a lifetime,” Smith said. “Overall, my goals are just to keep pushing further into the unknown.”

Callinan has helped the team grow by taking things slowly, specifically working on strength which helps the team’s efficiency during races. Their daily practices include a quick overview of what they are doing that day, a warm-up, walk-throughs, a regular run between 4-8 miles, and sometimes some strength training. 

To prepare for races, the boys typically run down to the river and back, practice 150-meter repeats, and train using other exercises that allow their legs to warm up for meets. Callinan also helps with mental preparation before meet days.

“…mentally try to make sure they understand what the assignment is for the meet, what our goals are, try to give them confidence in what they are going to do and kind of leave it up to them to execute and rise to the challenge and they have been doing that all season,” Callinan said. 

Calinan encourages his runners to stay positive to keep them motivated. 

“Trying to encourage them to stay positive, but they are pretty well motivated themselves. They have very much taken on the challenges imposed to them and they have set some really good goals for themselves,” Callinan said. “We have a goal session so that they can come up with what their individual goals are going to be and what their team goals are going to be.” 

Despite the boys’ preparation and practice, they’re not immune to injury. According to Callinan, this is a big challenge the team has faced.

“We have had a little bit of an injury bug, especially with a couple of injuries,” Callinan said. “Iggy is a great trainer and has been working really hard with them and has helped them along. Sometimes it’s a bit more problematic than we would like, and that’s something we will have to address next year.” 

Like the other fall sports teams who all organized a team charity event, the boys’ charity event was a shoe drive. Profits raised went toward a charity called “Lisa’s Fund” which provides scholarships for high school athletes who attend summer cross-country camps. Students brought in gently used shoes to be donated, and the money they gained from that went toward charity.

“We have had a number of athletes over the years that have benefitted from that scholarship fund so it is our opportunity to give back to that fund,” Callinan said.