Hopkins Boys XC Places 4th in FAA Championship Race

On Monday, October 27, the FAA held its championship race at Waveny Park in New Canaan. The weather and the course were impeccable, and the boys were hoping to run fast on the beautiful course.

 

Without perhaps as much speed up front as in years past, the boys were hoping that the strength of their pack, in which there had not been all that much distance between the 1st and 5th or even 7th runner, might help them turn in a strong team performance.

 

Battling hard all race, junior captain Daven Kaphar was the first Hopkins runner, in 12th. Not far behind him were Julian Peccia in 15th, and Henry Russell in 17th. Matthew Palsa finished 19th, and those four boys, by virtue of placing in the 11-20 spots, all earned second-team FAA honors. Jake Vandenpol, improving all season, was the 5th runner for Hopkins, and the 6th and 7th runners were  8th grader Gavin Li and freshman Milos Van den Bosch. The boys finished 4th overall, and while they were perhaps a bit disappointed in some of their individual races, it was clear that each gave the race all he had and left nothing on the course, more than which no one can ask of them. 

 

The JV race saw 5 Hopkins boys in the top 10, with sophomore rookie Edward Russell surging for a win attempt at the end and falling just .3 seconds short, and junior Alex Monin taking 3rd place not far behind him. Sophomore Keegan Slovinski, setting yet another personal best, finished 6th, and junior William Jang, also running a PR, finished 9th, with freshman Nate D'Amato just behind him. The JV on the whole ran very well, and the coaches are very proud of and impressed by their efforts.

 

After a season of constant improvement, this young team (losing very few seniors and no varsity scorers) is looking forward not just to next season but more immediately to the NEPSTA championships on Saturday, Nov 8th at Williston Northampton.