Despite a disappointing start, the Boys Cross Country team has made strides in the latter part of the season.

In their first race of the season at Larry & Penny Thompson Park on Sept. 3, the boys finished 17th out of 28 teams. This was not an awful start, however, the team was hoping to place better.

“We have not gotten off to the best start, however, I feel like we have the ability to improve as we just need to practice and train harder and put our mind to it,” said junior Franco Caputo.

The unity among the team is one of the aspects the runners possesses that has led to their positive mindframe despite a disappointing result.

Most of the players on the team are juniors and sophomores and have been on the team together for the past couple of years. They have built bonds of friendship and brotherhood, which many of the players cite as the team’s biggest strength and the reason why they can push through the rough start. The roster consists of five juniors and two sophomores who have raced with each other several times before.

“Our biggest strength is that we are an experienced and well behaved team,” said head coach Tomas Esquijarosa.

This friendship and teamwork has led to a positive mindset in not only the coaches minds, but also in the runners’ minds.

“Our biggest strength is definitely the fact that we are all very close friends, and this brings a very important aspect of teamwork to our races that I think is hard to find among other high schools we face,” said junior Mark Royero.

The team has bounced back well from the lack luster start as they finished fourth out of twenty three in the Junior Orange Bowl Race on Oct. 8. This positive momentum could carry over into the latter part of the year and in the playoffs.

Still, the team is pushing harder to do better at the next race.

“We can improve by working harder and overcoming adversity, which will be key in the upcoming races,” said Esquijarosa.

Constant improvement has increased team morale, and has made the expectations of the team had at the beginning of the year, come closer to

reality.
“My outlook for the season is nothing less than districts, as we have

the ability to achieve such lofty goals,” said junior Michael Garcia.
The team starts the regional and district playoffs during mid-late

October.