A new tradition may have formed this year as the boys cross country team ran a 2-mile inter-squad race under the lights to end their season. After a season with many challenges and new difficult circumstances, an exciting race as well as a unique senior night provided great closure to the season.

Coaches and WHS alumni Jeremy Nute, John Egan, and Isaac Grosner devised a plan to hold an inter-squad meet to finish off the season. They came up with a format that split the team up into three squadrons with four different races, having scoring opportunities in each race. Much different than the usual 3.06 miles at Veterans Park, 8 laps around the track resulted in a different strategy of a race. At a faster pace with no hills involved, the runners in all four races stayed in pretty tight packs until the last lap of the races. 

In the first race, freshman Colin Barr pulled away in the last lap to win the heat with a time of 13:50. 

When asked about the race, Barr stated “Luckily I was able to come in first in my race, it was fun going head to head with my teammates.” 

He also added “It was for sure a night to remember.” Junior Jared Antoine was second, finishing at 13:56, and senior Noah Lieberman was third coming in at 13:59.

The second race was won by a differential of .3 seconds, as senior Elliot McMahon edged out freshman David Hilfinger, with respective times of 12:12.3 and 12:12.6. Senior Cole Anderson was third with a time of 12:15.

Senior Kael Pelletier won the third race with a time of 11:47. Freshman Eli Wawersik ran the race in 11:49.4, earning him second place and the fastest time among all freshmen. Sophomore Brady Henderson was just .3 seconds behind in third place with 11:49.6.

In the 4th and fastest heat, sophomore Michael Lelacheur pulled away from senior Tim Mosher to win the race and have the overall fastest time of 10:47. After the meet, Lelacheur commented in a competitive and joking nature, by trolling his teammates,

 “The night air and slight breeze felt great to run in, although I can’t say the same for my teammates as my dust was in their faces.” 

Mosher earned a hard-fought 2nd place by finishing at 10:54. Seniors AJ McLucas, Dan Hastings, and Adish Jain all ran times between 11:00 and 11:03. When asked about the race, Jain discussed the special opportunity to run under the lights,

 “The gentle, cool air and the crisp white lights produced racing perfection. It was a great race to end a very tough season.” 

Sophomore Cooper Hagen, senior Colin Bentley, junior Allan Kafig, and senior Jacob Scholl rounded out the top heat.

There was a short ceremony to wrap up the event, as 17 seniors were honored after completing their final cross country season. Senior Colin Bentley commented on the senior classes impact, and how they positively morphed the future of the team

“Our seniors especially were great teammates and leaders this year, and took advantage of one last season despite its challenges.”