by Suie Choi ‘20, Staff Writer

Despite graduating three of the the team’s top seven runners and moving up to the most challenging American division of the SEC conference, the NA Men’s Cross Country Team is off to a successful season so far. The team has a record of 4-5 and has had numerous notable highlights this season as a result of the individual fitness of the team, strong leadership, and team camaraderie.

One of their main highlights was beating MKA and Bloomfield in the SEC championships at Branch-Brook Park after previously losing to both teams in dual meets. In this meet, the average 5K time for the top 5 runners of Newark Academy was 17:51, which is a major improvement from their previous average of 19:01. Another highlight was finishing in 1st place at the NA Invitational, one of the biggest meets of the season. The final main highlight was receiving third place at the Shore Invitational in Holmdel Park, beating Gill St. Bernards and former NA track coach, Stephen Bienko.

One of the key components that has contributed to the team’s success this season is their individual fitness and training during the summer. Senior co-captain Elliott Zornitsky said, “Our summer training was pretty rigorous and filled with captains’ practices averaging 7 miles every weekend… Our pre-season trip to Brewster Academy further strengthened our aerobic base through grueling long runs and competitions.” Clearly, the team was well trained and conditioned over the summer as they prepared for their upcoming season. As a result of this preparation, almost everyone has had a PR (personal record) this season, with the exception of a few runners who were injured early on in the season. Additionally, Elliott Zornitsky adds, “The depth of our team is pretty incredible… Our JV team could certainly serve to be a varsity team in its own and consistently medal… Even more, the freshman are crazy talented.” The talent coming from the underclassmen, including Jack Ryan ‘21, who was the 6th fastest freshman in the entire Shore Invitational, is crucial to the team’s success. Freshman are important aspects to the team as they present a future to the NA athletic program.

Furthermore, the strong leadership of both Coach Olesky and senior co captains, Elliott Zornitsky ‘18 and Allen Zhu ‘18, has impacted the season tremendously. Warren Sunada-Wong ‘20, a second year varsity runner on XC, noted, “The senior leadership has brought us closer together as a team. From organizing captain’s practices on the weekends, to cheering us on in every practice, they’ve continued the characteristic camaraderie of the cross country team.”

Beyond running, the cross country team has a close-knit friendship that contributes equally to their success. Freshman Jack Ryan talks about the close knit dynamics of the XC team as the driving force behind their success: “Each person on the team, whether they were seniors, juniors, or sophomores, accepted and welcomed the freshmen…   we have become more and more like a family, as I feel like I can talk to every person on the team. This has affected the team’s success because we are all comfortable around one another, and we are all able to push each other to our limits.” People join cross country for the running, but stay for the people. The close camaraderie of the team fosters friendly competitiveness and creates a strong support system, an element that has made cross country one of the more successful sports teams this fall. Newark Academy looks forward to watching the team prosper for the remainder of the postseason and future seasons to come.