One mile is not a lot in the grand scheme of things. Christ School cross country runners will adhere to a training regimen with hundreds of miles between now and the end of their season in October.
But it was four laps around the school track that suggested this could be a special kind of season for the Greenies.
Coach Randy Ashley set up a short time-trial last month during Early Sports. In the past, there would be a huge gap after Andrew Hammel ’20 and Joseph Visconti ’20 finished. This time, nine of Ashley’s runners were able to complete a mile run in under 5 minutes, 35 seconds.
Christ School’s first full 3.1-mile race is Wednesday at the Buncombe County Championship meet. Race time is 4:15 p.m. from Bill Moore Community Park in Fletcher, N.C., known for its friendly, flat layout.
“The guys are chomping at the bit, and that’s what we were hoping for by purposely waiting later than other teams to race,” Coach Ashley said. “There’s a lot of positive energy with this team. When you have two guys like Andrew and Joseph, I think it just trickles down. We’re ready. We had a great 3-mile tempo run on Friday. Afterwards, there were a lot of high-fives and guys happy for each other.”
Andrew is the two-time defending Buncombe County champion and Joseph was the runner-up in 2018. They were second and third, respectively, at last year’s NCISAA 4-A state meet. Coach Ashley has named Andrew and Joseph his team captains for their final season as Greenies.
Coach Ashley is looking for a breakout season from Jack Cross ’22 as well. The sophomore’s personal record last year was in the 20:30-range, but Jack has since broken 19 minutes twice in road races. Seniors for this year’s team are Andrew, Joseph, Jackson Bewley ’20, Connor Booher ’20, Joseph Coladonato ’20, James Coleman ‘20, Thomas Doss ’20, Jack Fitch ’20, Miles Gardner ’20, Tommy Schleusner ’20, and Wyatt Wilson ’20.
Two newcomers to keep an eye on are Rocky Hansen ’23 and Ethan Kemp ‘21.
Looking ahead, Christ School will host two meets – a Carolinas Athletic Association preview on October 10, and the conference-championship meet itself on October 16. The 4-A state meet is October 25 and will be run over the McAlpine Greenway course in Charlotte.
“McAlpine is one of the fastest courses in the state so we want to run fast courses this season,” Ashley said. “The county meet should prepare us for that. I think it’s going to be a fun day.”
