At Misawa Air Base on Tuesday, the ASIJ varsity cross country team claimed victory in the Division I Far East Championship. Individually, the boys’ team earned first place and the girls’ team second place. Their combined performance earned the overall team the top honor.
Arriving on Sunday, the team bonded while exploring the military base and its selection of restaurants, then did a short shake-out run together. With a high crowd turnout early Monday morning, the runners ran five kilometers around the Gosser Golf Course in the championship race. Coach Rolls said, “at this point in the season, most of the cross-country runners should be peaking in performance.”
The boys’ team ran incredibly well with four runners—seniors Kai Liljequist (3rd) and Hiroya Sobjima (9th) and freshmen Kyle Durkee (7th) and Philipp Lehr (10th)—placing in the top ten. The girls’ team also had a very successful race with three girls—senior Chloe McCormick (2nd), junior Julia Schouw (7th), and sophomore Isabel Tsuchida (4th)—placing in the top ten.
This peak in performance was a result of many hours of hard work over the course of the fall season. After school, the teams got together no matter the weather and pushed through tempo runs, long runs, hill workouts, and sprints. With the support of Coach Rolls, Coach Macek, Coach Baker, and Coach Suzuki, the runners made significant progress since September. Apart from improving race-day times, the team also built a strong sense of community over the course of the season. Running is often considered an individual sport, but it can undoubtedly create an amazing community where runners work together to achieve personal bests and maintain discipline throughout the season.
On Tuesday, the girls’ and boys’ teams paired up for the ten kilometer relay. During the race, members of the teams alternated running the course, trying to pass as many other competitors as possible. In an incredibly close finish, ASIJ placed second in the relay, only four points shy of first.
Despite the slight disappointment on the final day, the Misawa meet was a great success for ASIJ’s varsity cross country squad. The team will close out their season with a final race at Tama Hills next weekend.
