Cross Country crosses the northern border to compete internationally
by Madison Leslie and Samantha DeSouza
William Aylward, a sophomore on the cross-country team, unfolded a note card from a women’s lacrosse player in his hotel room in Canada. It read, “I’m wishing you so much luck! You got this!” He smiled and began to mentally prepare for the race that was approaching.
Over the course of fall break, the Raven’s cross-country team expanded their races from the United States and traveled to Montreal, Canada. While this was an international trip, the team will be taking an even longer drive for their NE-10 Championships held in Syracuse, New York.
(Photo: FPU Track & Field and Cross Country)
Wil had never been to Canada before and said, “Traveling that far with your team is a great bonding experience and really helped the team get closer.”
One of the challenges for the team was not being able to speak French. Teammate Hugo Arlabosse, who is from Marseilles, France, was able to translate and help make things run smoothly.
Before racing the team was able to see the Olympic stadium. “It was honestly one of the coolest experiences while we were there because the sheer size of it and how big Olympic village was.”
Head Coach Zach Emerson said, “The courses in Canada are very different from what we are used to in America. It was a park with very little markings and kept grass and was very difficult compared to the courses in America. They had to overcome that mentally.”
Wil said that he raced well and had improved in the aspects that his coach had told him to. Despite being so far away from home, he was able to strategically run faster on each lap.
The women’s race had 142 finishers and the top five scoring women for the Ravens all finished within the first 100 competitors. Emerson said, “For the women it was valuable because the distance was two miles longer than they are normally used to running. There was a big mental barrier they had to overcome in order to do their best. Challenging yourself in the middle of the season like that and to come out the other side is a valuable thing.”
The team spent the past week working hard to prepare for the NE-10 Championship race this weekend. The Ravens will be returning to familiar ground back in the United States for what could be their final race of the season.
