Cross Country to Run in Div 5 Meet This Weekend

Swampscott cross country will soon see the finish line on its 2013 season with the Div. 5 meet this weekend and All-States the following weekend.

We have included a video from Matt Mahoney's record-breaking run at the final home meet at Upper Jackson this season.

Below are some observations from a week and a half ago from Coach Jeff Bartlett, focusing on the strides taken by all the team members:

You know, a guy like Matt (Mahoney) out front is visible and people see him as a face of our program. And he's improved a lot, but what people don't see are all the other kids on the team, from varsity runners to first year JV runners, who are all improving, too. 

We had something like 97% of kids PR on our home course this year. That's incredible! That's why you coach: to help kids do more than they ever thought possible, and to show them that they can apply that to all areas of their lives. In running, if you put in the work, you'll improve. It's that simple, and our program is based on that philosophy. 

We're pretty sure Matt's time from NECs is a meet record, and he looked very smooth doing it. We're still training through the meets with him, so we're looking forward to seeing what he can do when we cut back a little bit. Our boys' team is a little beat up right now, and we held out two of our top five as a precaution. We have to keep the long term in mind, and health is always the number one priority of any runner on the team. If the boys can commit to doing the little things for two weeks, then we'll be in a good position for the Eastern Mass meet. John King & Alex Balleza filled in at the last minute in the varsity race for us.

The girls are continuing to run well in packs and getting used to how much they can push themselves over a 5k cross-country course. Sarah Kelley had a huge second half of the race, followed closely by Alyssa Mauriello. We can count on Isabella out front for us, too. 

The girls have made big gains this season, and they're setting the team up to be successful in the next few years. It's an enjoyable group to coach with a lot great of chemistry! They're gaining confidence every meet, and once it's all put together I think they'll have some very fine race times under their belts.