by Aarav Desai ’29 and Vivan Vipin ’29
This cross-country season was one of the most successful seasons in Bellarmine’s illustrious history. Although the team faced many challenges, Bellarmine’s runners won all four league championships and came in second in CCS. But the fall season didn’t get off to the greatest start. Mr. McCrystle, the head coach of the cross-country team, explains that this year was different as the team was 40 members smaller than last year and was the smallest team in nearly a decade. This setback should’ve meant that this year would be a rebuild and an unsuccessful bid for the championship, but endless hard-work and determination helped the team achieve their great success. Mr. McCrystle explains why his team was so successful stating, “Many seniors and juniors and sophomores who were really committed to doing everything the right way every day, whether that was in the weight room or warm up or the cool down.” Another reason that Mr. McCrystle attributes the successful season to is the “superstar” senior, Stephen Sziebert (Pictured Second from the Left). Sziebert placed first in the two-mile, three mile, 5,000 meter, and the best runner in WCAL, winning the finals. It was Sziebert who took Bellarmine to the next level and helped the team reach the pinnacle of cross-country.
It wasn’t only the upperclassmen who achieved great success, but the freshman team flew past expectations. Success started with the same hard work that the other teams had. Joshua Jothiprakasm, freshman runner, explains what they did to achieve success: “We worked together as a team and coming to practice. We worked hard every single day and even on Saturdays.” He also attributed much of the team’s success to the great coaches that put their time and effort into developing their skills. The freshman team won all of the WCAL races, but the biggest highlight of the season according to Jothiprakasm was winning the championship. Mr. McCrystle, even with all the upperclassmen’s great successes, states that the freshman team beating Saint Francis and winning its league championship was the highlight of the season.
Looking on to the next season, Mr. McCrystle states, “We’ll need a lot of current juniors and sophomores and some of the freshmen too, to become the leaders who will act as role models and mentors.” Replicating their success will be tough but with great coaches and leadership within the team, the Bellarmine cross country team thinks the sky is the limit.