Brief: This Year’s First Rivalry Day Win

Boys XC won Friends our first Rivalry Day point, while the tiny girls team nearly tied a team double their size.

Cross+country+runners+Sam+Wu%2C+Vincent+Walk%2C+and+Jonah+Rubenstein+are+pursued+by+a+Park+runner+during+the+Rivalry+meet.

Alex Harner

Cross country runners Sam Wu, Vincent Walk, and Jonah Rubenstein are pursued by a Park runner during the Rivalry meet.

Mai Bolster, Staff Writer

Prior to the Rivalry Day games on October 1st, some Friends teams competed on other days. The first was Boys Cross Country (XC). Boys XC, who have moved up to B-conference this year, got Friends our first Rivalry Day point. 

Since we were running at Park’s Sugar Campus (an annex for sports), there were many Park supporters cheering on their teams. Many even brought cowbells!

Park’s Sugar Campus is an especially tough course, because it involves running three loops around different athletic fields. It’s nice for spectators, because they can watch from so many different places. But as a runner, it can be annoying to always be in view of everyone. The three loops can also be deceiving, because runners have to cross by the finish multiple times.

Two days later, Friends’ tiny Girls XC team raced against Park, with only seven of our nine runners. Park’s Girls XC team has more than double that number. Even so, Friends only lost the race by two points! 

Both teams put forth a really strong effort, and ran some of their best races this season.