On a drizzly Sunday morning at Van Cortlandt Park, where the 2013 Mayor’s Cup Championship was held, the THHS boys cross country team ran against the best schools in the city. Boys from public schools, private schools, and charter schools from all different sports organizations participated in this race.
Many of the boys were nervous, including junior captain Yash Sharma, who explained, “I’m used to starting out slow, and then passing the runners to get in front, but now there’s a ton of people in this event, so it’s gonna be hard to pass them to get ahead.”
Sophomore Benjamin Chang, however, offered a different response: “I’ve raced this course last year, so I’m used to it.”
The boys meet began with a freshman 1.5 mile run. It was a close race, with freshman Muhamed Bicic running neck and neck with freshman Kyril Van Schendel of Millennium High School towards the finish line, but being outmatched at the end by Kyril by a single second. Muhamed medaled at a second place finish with a time of 9:00.
Despite not being able to attain first place as in his previous meets, he was still pleased with his accomplishments. “I’m competing against different leagues, not just PSAL, so it’s really competitive,” he remarked, while proudly wearing his medal.
The varsity 2.5 mile race began next. Yash was the first THHS runner to finish, ending with a time of 14:44 and earning himself 11th place. He was followed by senior captain Thomas Sullivan, who got 45th place with a time of 15:47. Some notable runners were sophomore Noah Silversmith and senior Jack Yuan, who both had an enormous drive towards the end, placing 17:12 and 17:22 and earning 130th and 140th place, respectively. Senior Kyle Su also did very well, placing 68th with a time of 16:09.
“I’m actually happy about this race,” says Kyle. “Compared to previous meets in this season, I feel like I’ve improved a lot.”
Sadly, some of the racers were injured, including Thomas. In his case, a hip injury that he had since Friday suddenly worsened towards the middle of the race. Despite his injury, he was satisfied with his results: “I know that my first and last mile were good, and that towards the middle I only struggled a bit.”
The 2.5 mile junior varsity race then commenced. This was the first 2.5 mile race for junior Shaunak Kapse, who was the first THHS runner to finish, with a time of 17:02 and 71st place finish. Benjamin broke his personal record of 18:06 by 17 seconds, with a new time of 17:49. Also running the 2.5 mile for the first time were sophomore Matthew McAndrew and sophomore Aiden Moran. Matthew ran with a time of 17:13, earning 82nd place. Aiden placed at 124th with a time of 18:16. He expressed his opinions about the race, saying, “The hard part for me was running over those hills, since I wasn’t used to it.”
For sophomore Noah, the race was too crowded, making it difficult for him to get past all the runners to run his best. He also added: “It’s harder to tell where you are during the race. It’s pretty much pacing until you see the bridge.”
