Cross Country Hawks Dominate First Dual Meet

By Nate Kirshenbaum

Our cross country team made its way to Goddard Park Monday to compete against East Greenwich, Juanita Sanchez, and Johnston in an important dual meet. This course is mostly flat, with several rolling hills and entrances in and out of the woods. Before the race, Coach Doyle expressed that this race would “decide” the division. He gathered his JV and freshmen runners to explain the course while the experienced Varsity team warmed up. “If you get lost, you’re on your own,” Doyle said, encouraging them to stick together. From that point, they went on a two-mile run for a warm-up before meeting at the starting line.

When the pistols fired, Hendricken made their presence felt right away, leading and slightly ahead of their rival East Greenwich. After heading straight and turning right into the woods, there was a brief point at which one could not see what was happening. Coach Brennan yelled words of encouragement as he saw Dom Parlato (9th place overall) leading the pack. Following were Michael Potter, Michael Kiernan, Jake Cardello, and a few EG runners mixed in. Juanita Sanchez and Johnston were a non-factor for the Hawks throughout the race.

A little later, runners started to flood the woods nearest to the start. This part requires the runner to do two loops around. During the first, Michael Potter took the lead and in the second, he emerged far ahead of the next man. A large loop followed, which directed the runners straight ahead to the finish.

In first place came Potter (16:25), who'd maintained his lead for the rest of the race. He was followed by nine other Hawks before Tommy Sommer from EG took eleventh. In fact, our guys took 18 of the top 25 spots. Hendricken dominated the race with a clean sweep of all other schools. According to their teammates, sophomores Jeff Venter (22nd) and Joe Santos both ran very well and showed great improvement. Their next race is Sunday, a CVS-sponsored 5k.