The Essex Cross Country team is strong almost every year, winning 36 state titles in the past. This season is no different from any other, with St. Johnsbury Academy always being a strong competitor.
The Essex team gets together everyday after school, putting in the hard effort that is required if you want to win the big titles.
Unlike other sports, cross country is both a team and individual sport. Runners push themselves to their limits and have to compete against themselves through every last step.
At Essex, every runner works together, and that is how we prevail.
So far this season, EHS’s girls and boys teams have shown off their talent. In our first race, the Essex Invite, our JV and Varsity boys both took home first place, and our JV girls took second, followed by our Varsity girls taking home third.
“The first half of our season is a time for athletes to establish themselves,” Derek Martisus, head coach, said. “We get to see who worked hard over the summer, and we get to determine what freshmen will contribute sooner rather than later.”
The teams also raced at the Burlington Invite and the 49th annual Manchester Invitational in New Hampshire.
At the Manchester Invitational, both girls and boys could only take a certain amount of runners. The five freshmen boys runners won the meet with 55 points.
JV girls came in seventh, with their top five runners all finishing within 28 seconds of each other. JV boys finished in tenth place.
Lastly, the Varsity girls and boys finished in 10th and 12th. All teams pushed through, climbing up the iconic McIntyre Ski Hill. Most runners would fall back and give up, but not Essex.
“Manchester is always a challenge,” Martisus said. “The best in New England show up and we get a real look at how we stack up. We clearly have some work to do, but a big takeaway is that our future is quite bright.”
For the rest of the upcoming season, Essex will be training hard to bring home the state title in Thetford on October 28th.
