November 16 was one significant day for the Haldane Cross Country team as they were about to compete in the long-awaited State Championships. After crushing their Sectionals race, nine runners qualified: fresh men Henry Amadei and Gavin Drury, sophomore Silas Emig, juniors Zane Del Pozo, James Frommer and Owen Powers, and seniors Jack Illian and Oliver Petkus on the boy’s team, and senior Ashley Sousa on the girl’s team.

With an energized send-off for the runners, they traveled north to Queensbury High School. There, they stayed at an overnight hotel and made preparations for their big race.

Out of ten total schools, the Haldane boys team broke through and placed 4th, while Sousa finished 38th out of one hundred twelve total runners.

Powers wrote a personal account of this experience. He takes us through the inner workings of cross-country running and what it was like to be in what he said was the most exciting race he had ever been a part of. He later ran at the more competitive Federation Championships, the first Haldane student to ever do so

Owen’s Journal

We had high hopes going into the cross country season, as a team and as individuals. Qualifying for states was the main goal, and we achieved it! All of our training paid off at the league championships, where we placed first! At sectionals, the race we’d all worked for, I felt confident and took the lead early. I felt strong at first, but fatigue set in after the steep uphill, and a tightness in my core worried me. I pushed through and finished second. Though it wasn’t my best day, I was proud we won as a team and earned a spot at states!

We got a send-off from the school, which was super thrilling. The nerves started to set in once Coach AJ started to go over the race plan at the hotel. He was very serious about the fact that the team could get the top three in this race. Running is not only physical but mental, so focus was key. We wouldn’t have run so well if we weren’t fully focused, and all that preparation for this race would have been for nothing.

On the morning of the race, the sun was shining, and the sky was a calm blue. The team met in the hotel and shared some words of encouragement to get everyone pumped up. It was our last race together, so we had to leave it all on the course if we wanted to perform well. I think it worked. The day started with one of the coldest mornings, but the temperature eventually rose as we got closer to our race.

We jogged over to the start line about fifteen minutes before the race began. With every second, our anxiety slowly grew to loom over us. The racers from what looked like ten other schools strode across the field. The starter announced, “Two minutes left!” We did our last stride and huddled up to say some final words. We heard a whistle sound. The runners shuffled up to the line.

The silence was deafening to me, and after waiting for what felt like forever, the gun fired, and we all shot off the line like bullets. I sprinted off, and once the course narrowed down, we all were bunched up together. As the race continued, it began to spread out, and I ended up running by myself with nobody near me. I went through the first mile at about 4:57 and realized that this pace was hot. The race continued, and I kept my form up throughout the entire race. With about 1 km to go, I had a very good gap in front of the 4th-place runner. I knew that I had to stay strong if I wanted to keep this position. Once we exited the woods, the crowd was so loud I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts. I started to accelerate a little bit. In what felt like the longest last straightaway ever, I finished the race in 3rd, much better than what I was expecting. After the race, I discovered it was the highest a Haldane athlete has ever placed in the States. I was so happy with where I finished, and that was the most exciting race I have ever participated in. The team came in shortly after me, and I congratulated all of them as they came in. Despite the team scoring 4th overall, it was our strongest performance ever. This felt like the biggest win of the season for all of us, as we all celebrated like we just won the lottery.

One of the things I love most about cross country is you can achieve personal goals while sharing team achievements. Being able to celebrate both is very rewarding.