The Worcester Tech Cross Country Team has won various meets throughout this season. The boy’s team has won six meets in total and only lost one, while the girl’s team has won a total of four meets and has lost only two. With almost an undefeated season, their goal was to win the Inter-High League on Thursday, October 24th.
The Worcester Tech Cross Country Team came in second place in the Inter-High League. Asya Kabanov achieved second place for the girl’s team and junior Rayna Consiglio ran her way into third place. On the boy’s team, Christian Tarnuzzer came in second place overall and senior captain Henry Nguyen took third.
“The number one goal for each team is to win The Inter-High Championship. Both teams have a realistic chance,” stated John Nicol, Head Cross Country Coach, before the race. He has been coaching the team a little over two years now along with Coach Linzi, who is coaching for her first year. Coach Nicol is a former track and cross country athlete and has been coaching for a total of ten years. He started off as a volunteer at Monson High School and soon became a coach for Worcester Technical High School.
Coach Linzi was previously a track and field athlete at Burncoat High School and years later, her former coach gave her the opportunity to coach for the Worcester Tech cross country team. She states, “The Worcester Tech cross country team is a very successful team. The boys are strong, but the girls have a lot of potential. It’s awesome to see how large the team is and how many of the kids have good attitudes.”
Both coaches strongly believed the cross country team had the potential to win The Inter-High League because many athletes had previously shaved off three or four minutes off their personal records from the beginning of the season or even shaved off an extraordinary six minutes like Juliana Fernandez. She started off the season running a 5k in 30 minutes and 10 seconds. Then, in one month, she dropped that time by six minutes. She is now considered by the coaches as, “One of the fastest freshman girls the team has had in a while.”
Sophomore athlete, Christian Tarnuzzer, went from the fifth fastest runner on the team his freshman year to the top runner this year, and now holds the boys Worcester Tech course record of 17 minutes and 28 seconds. Another sophomore athlete, Asya Kabanov, now holds the girl’s Worcester Tech course record at 22 minutes and 9 seconds. Overall, each athlete on the cross country team has been working diligently and efficiently to drop their times.
Even though each runner on the team has improved, that doesn’t mean that it came easily. “One of the challenges was just getting over the ‘slump’ of not racing over the summer,” according to Christian Tarnuzzer. Many athletes do not get an opportunity to race over the summer, so for some athletes, it can be difficult for them to get back into the racing and competing habit. For example, junior athlete Rayna Consiglio, did not have the opportunity to race over the summer, but she is now the second-fastest runner of the girl’s team, running a 5k in 23 minutes.
Every cross country athlete has been practicing five days a week for about two hours ever since tryouts on August 27th. Coach Nicol said, “Every athlete works hard to up their mileage and improve their time. They do a variety of workouts each week to build strength, speed, and stamina.”
“Joining the Cross Country team gives students an opportunity to show how tough they are. The stuff they do isn’t easy but they make it look easy. Every day there’s an opportunity to improve,” states Coach Linzi. These athletes spent the season preparing for The Inter-High League for weeks by going to practice every day and attempting to make every day count with the leadership of team captains, Henry Nguyen, a senior, and Jake Stewart, a junior. Everyone on the team takes this sport very seriously and the pride they take in their improvements over the season proves it. As the cross country season is coming to an end, the track and field season begins. “Another goal for this season is for each athlete to build a solid foundation for the upcoming season as well,” according to Coach Nicol.
Many athletes consider the cross country team to be a second family to them. “A lot of the people on here, I’m happy to be around cause we all find that we have similar interests,” according to Rayna Consiglio.
Even the coaches believe the cross country team to be a second family to them. Coach Linzi states, “This is a second family to coaches and the kids. I see everyone interacting with different groups and being silly. They make it easy for me and Coach Nicol to be involved. I love it when they want to tell me about their day and joke with me… Also, joining the team is a great way to meet more boys and girls. It’s unique where everyone is at all together, but it makes the dynamic more fun. There is no negativity towards anyone because of their gender. Everyone is supportive.”
Even if these student-athletes are in different shops, different grades, part of different nationalities, and are very unique from one another, they all still come together as a family to represent the Worcester Tech Cross Country Team.