Story By Andrew Klein
Photos by Emily Hanrahan

            When the boys on the Staples cross-country team entered the Class ‘L’ championship meet last Saturday, they knew they would be competing with four or five other teams that were similar in strength to their team. After a disappointing FCIAC championship, the varsity runners looked towards the state meet in order to redeem themselves. The results of the meet show that for the most part, the top seven ran well individually, but that there was difficulty working together in order to have the best results as possible.

            From the very beginning of the race, even before it began, Coach Laddie Lawrence knew that things weren’t going to go exactly as he had hoped. He said that the team’s tardiness to the starting line made a big impact on how they raced, considering they needed to finish the warm-up with strides once they finally arrived.

            He said, “We really had to rush to get things done in the beginning. We were probably behind by about two minutes and didn’t get enough time to recover between striders and the beginning of the race.”

            When the gun went off, Lawrence regained some hope since the team was able to get a very strong start. Every team left the line in what seemed to be a v-formation with Staples as the leading point.

            After the first mile, senior captain Remi Ray hovered around fifteenth place and looked very capable of moving up. As he darted up a hill approximately 800 meters later, he maintained his position and was loosely followed by senior captain Henry Kaplan, junior Tyler Prince, senior Will Caffery, and sophomore Christophe Esposito whom all showed little or no signs of drowsiness.

            Missing from the spread out “pack” was senior Jason Hanrahan, the team’s second runner, who was later discovered to have sustained an injury from the beginning of the race.

            By the final uphill kick, the top five boys ended up in the same order as they were at the 1.5 kilometer mark and were followed by junior Zach Wendler and Hanrahan for sixth and seventh. Their times and places were: Ray (14^th; 17:10), Kaplan (24^th; 17:28), Prince (31^st; 17:40), Caffery (33^rd; 17:41), Esposito (43^rd; 17:51), Wendler (57^th; 18:06), and Hanrahan (108^th; 19:32). Together, they ran a time of 1:27:50 for 145 points.

            “If Jason was feeling well he would have finished around 20^th overall, which would have knocked about 20 points off of our score, putting us around 120 and third place,” said Lawrence. “We would have really needed to have had a very hot day in order to finish in the top two.”

            Lawrence also mentioned that if Hanrahan had been up in the second spot, the Staples runners behind him would have paced more naturally off of him and could have lowered their times.

            The top five runners still managed to finish with a strong 41-second spread, which shows the strengths of the other runners and the team’s depth. Henry Kaplan said, “Sure, we didn’t ‘step it up’ like it would have taken to do very well at the class meet, but we ran well regardless. One of our top guys had an understandable injury, which screwed up the team score a little bit, but individually ran our own respectable races.”

            Lawrence believes that if the team competed in almost any other class that they would definitely have finished in first or second place, however, because of Class L’s level of difficulty, they came in fourth.

            Staples luckily qualified to go to the State Open Championship on a wildcard opportunity based on their combined time. The meet will be Friday November 4 at Wickham Park once again.

            The varsity seven is hoping for better results in what will be the last race of this season for most, if not all of them. Their primary goal is to finish higher than they are currently ranked in the state at 16^th.

            “We just need to improve on our state ranking and show other teams what we’re really made of,” said Kaplan regarding the Open.

            Prince shared a running tactic for the upcoming meet as compared to the class race. He said, “On Friday I intend to take the hills at Wickham a lot harder and to try and make up a lot of ground instead of losing it. We will all need to compensate for our two-runner by stepping it up.”

Story By Andrew Klein
Photos by Emily Hanrahan

If there was one goal that the Staples girls’ cross-country team wanted to fulfill throughout this entire season, it was to be able to qualify for the State Open meet after the class championship. The girls’ rejection from this goal after the results of the class meet has left many of them morbidly dwelling on the season that was supposed to be.

            The team was very close to qualifying, in fact, it was 57 seconds away from qualifying, but fell short when it came to the wildcard chances at Opens; eight other teams had faster combined times and the state was not going to make amends for a team that was close.

            Staples will, however, send two individual representatives to Opens based on their extraordinary personal times at the class meet. Senior captain Annie Sullivan and sophomore Alicia Kaestli will both compete on Friday November 4 at Wickham Park and each have goals for the meet.

            As Coach Heather Crosby said, “They definitely want to beat their times from last week. Alicia can realistically lower her time to around 17 minutes, which would be the icing on the cake since everything has been great for her. Annie is trying to break 16 minutes and she should be able to if she is in a good group. She is trying to have a good race and see how things go.”

             Sullivan and Kaestli led Staples to its seventh place finish at the L championship last Saturday. While Sullivan feels she did not run the best race possible, she thinks that the top seven girls all gave it their best effort, but landed short.

            She said, “Although the team didn't make opens, I think that everyone gave a genuine effort and we did the best we could, which is all that really matters. Although I wasn't pleased with my race personally, I'm looking forward to opens to improve upon my race from last week.”

            When the gun went off at the start of the race, Sullivan and Kaestli needed to push their way through the crowd of runners to get towards the front. Once they were there, they were essentially able to maintain the same position for most of the race.

            After the first mile, Annie was in 12^th place and Alicia was within ten places of her. Rounding a bend and going downhill, the results were still the same. What became obvious, however, was the very large gap between Staples’ second and third runner. Senior Captain Allie Parkhurst, who maintained the third slot for the team throughout the entire race, was the lead runner of the main pack. Behind her were juniors Nina Lintermans, Emily Langham, Ali Jones, and Megan Huntley

            Their times and places were Sullivan (14^th; 16:52), Kaestli (24^th; 17:18), Parkhurst (37^th; 17:56), Lintermans (57^th; 18:25), Langham (58^th; 18:26), Jones (80^th; 18:57), and Huntley (85^th; 19:07).

            “Overall, the team ran 2:20 faster than last year,” said Crosby. “Five out f seven varsity runners were back this year from last so they’re previously familiar with the meet.”

            She also said that one of the biggest problems for Friday’ Open is the forecasted warm weather. With temperatures expected 15- 20 degrees warmer than last Saturday, the girls will need consider the weather conditions as they advance in their race.

            “I’m happy how this team did this year and they have achieved a lot. We don’t have all the awards but we are definitely a team that’s moving up. The girls will keep getting better next year; they’ll be stronger.”

By: Andrew Klein

            Over the past few years, the Staples Girls’ Cross-Country team has slowly moved its name into the higher ranks of the FCIAC league. In 2003, they placed eighth at the county championships and last year they placed seventh. However, after Thursday’s 2005 championship meet, the team spiked their rank up to fourth place out of the eighteen teams in the FCIAC. This significant improvement in the championship came after one of the strongest regular seasons in the team’s recent history.

            For senior captain Annie Sullivan, it was the third consecutive year that she led the team at the championship. Since the 2003 season, Sullivan has proven innate running abilities and has received either the first or second team All FCIAC award. This year, she tore up the course and ran the fastest race of her career finishing in fifth place with a time of 15:09.

             She was happy to have done so well and to have finished among some of the best runners in the state. Since the FCIAC league is one of strongest for cross-country, Annie has already gone up against most of her competition before the state meets begin.

            The team’s success is not only attributed to Sullivan, but the six other varsity runners who ran hard and pushed their way towards the finish line. Sophomore Alicia Kaestli (16^th; 16:16) finished behind Annie and was followed by senior captain Allie Parkhurst (31^st; 16:39), and juniors Ali Jones (43^rd, 17:16), Nina Lintermans (44^th; 17:19), Emily Langham (45^th; 17:23) and Megan Huntley (54^th; 17:53).

            “This was definitely the best group effort we had all year,” said Coach Heather Crosby. “Pretty much everyone ran a gutsy race and came through where they needed to and picked up the slack for others. They worked well as a team.”

            Crosby mentioned that most of the runners ran personal records for the 4,000 meter course. She pointed out sophomore Alicia Kaestli who finished one place behind the cutoff for the First Team All FCIAC award and capped off an incredible season. She also said that the team’s improvement each week over the season is what gave them the confidence they needed to take fourth.

            The girls’ places added up to a score of 139, which put them behind Ridgefield, Wilton, and Darien, the exact three teams that they lost to in the regular season. They had a 2:11 spread of the first through fifth runners, a statistic that has been about the same throughout the season, but slowly decreasing.

            “Our team did exceptionally well this year,” said senior captain Katherine Arango. “Going from seventh place last year to four this year is a huge improvement and it’s due to our really strong, core varsity team.”

            Sullivan agreed and said that she was very pleased with the results and that, “everyone seemed to have an awesome race.”

             The girls are now looking forward to the Class L Championship meet on Saturday in Wickham Park. Their goal is to qualify for State Opens as a team, however, they will need to race very well in order to overcome their strong opponents.

             “We feel like we really can achieve that this year. Our runners have proven strong throughout the season. We've faced injuries, illnesses, and letdowns yet have continued to be strong,” said Arango.

            In order to compete well at the class meet, Crosby thinks it is important to continue everything the team has been doing up to this point, including maintaining spirited and healthy mindsets.

            Last year, the team finished 12^th at the class meet and only Sullivan advanced to the Open as an individual entry. This year, with Ridgefield and Wilton in new classes, it may be a little easier to succeed, however there is still tough competition that Staples will need to overcome.

            Sullivan said, “I'm excited for states and I think our team is going to do well and possibly make opens. There are many good teams in our class that we have to keep in mind including Simsbury, East Lyme, E.O. Smith, and Conard.”

             The top two teams in the class will be automatically sent to State Opens and eight wildcard spots will be available for teams that ran significant times. Crosby thinks that certain girls will qualify individually but that a team qualification would be nicer. She said the girls will need to lower their spread in order to achieve this at Wickham.

10/11/05
By Andrew Klein

As the cross-country season has progressed, the Staples boys’ team has grown stronger and faster. In the beginning, it struggled to win, but Tuesday’s last regular season meet proved its development over the last month.

            Staples ran a very depth-oriented race by packing together, yet allowing three frontrunners from Ridgefield and Fairfield Warde to stay ahead. While the results against Ridgefield are the same as the ones against Darien last week, this meet was more difficult because Ridgefield has a tougher team with more depth.

            One of the most outstanding aspects of Staples’ results in the last few meets has been the spread of the top five runners. This week, Coach Laddie Lawrence was extremely pleased with a 22 second spread of the top five and a 43 second spread of the top seven. This, as opposed to Ridgefield’s 1:44 spread of its top five, is really what will help Staples succeed in the large meets it will face in the upcoming championship season.

            Among the top seven were seniors Henry Kaplan (17:14), Remi Ray (17:24), Jason Hanrahan (17:28), and Will Caffery (17:36), as well as juniors Tyler Prince (17:34), Thomas Robson (17:56), and sophomore Christophe Esposito (17:57).

            “Today was the last home meet and we really came out and gave it our all,” said Senior Captain Henry Kaplan. “We had a flexible plan going in and we were able to implement that effectively. In addition, our times were very fast throughout all of the varsity runners. Our six and seven guys dipped under the 18-minute mark, which translates into a very strong team.”

            While everyone ran significantly better times, Lawrence felt that if conditions had allowed, the times would have been even faster than how they transpired. Due to the rain in the last few days, the course was slick and soggy, and a drier course would have yielded lower times.

            With wins over Ridgefield, Warde, and New Canaan, Staples brought its regular season record to 16-1 and won the Central Division Championship title for having the best record of the six Central Division schools. It is the second consecutive time that Staples clinched the title for cross-country over Ridgefield and the third time in the last four years.

            “Overall, the season went pretty much how we hoped it would,” said Lawrence. “We didn’t beat Danbury, but we said in the beginning of the season that we will need to develop a strong pack that finishes together, and that’s what has been improving in the last few meets. We are definitely racing better than we were in the beginning of the season.”

            Staples now needs to show that depth is what it takes to succeed at the FCIAC Championship. The absence of a frontrunner is one of few regrets this season, and something that has made it slightly more difficult to take home wins.

            Lawrence said, “If we had one frontrunner like we did with Cameron Marantz last year, this team would be unstoppable. We are not bad as we are, but every meet would not have been a struggle. If we had a guy that we could put 30 seconds ahead of our pack that would make us very dangerous, but we don’t, and I think we’re doing a good job with what we have.”

            As of now, Staples looks strong for the county championship, but Danbury is still the favorite. Lawrence feels that if anyone is to break up Danbury, Staples is the team to do it and each runner will need to run great races in order to do so.

            Kaplan knows that Staples will succeed at the championship, and thinks that if the team wants to win badly enough, they might be able to.

            He said, “Based solely on today’s performances I am very confident that we will do well at FCIACs. Realistically, we are in standing to be a runner-up team, but we are hungry for victory. As a coach noted to Laddie, we come out stronger with every meet and that is our characteristic advantage.”

09/28/05
By Andrew Klein

            Staples’ first pack of thirteen runners came through the finish line after Norwalk’s Hamilton Kibbe took first place. Staples’ top ten included seniors Will Caffery, Henry Kaplan, Remi Ray, Jason Hanrahan, Dane Lonsdale, and Brian Haswell, as well as juniors Tyler Prince, Darius Naficy, Thomas Robson, and sophomore Christophe Esposito.   All ran within 41 seconds of each other and were followed by additional Staples runners.

            “Our plan was to run a pack-oriented race and let Norwalk’s first runner go, and that’s what we did,” said Coach Laddie Lawrence. “You had five teams here that were not among the stronger teams in the league so we were able to carry out the pack-running philosophy.”

            Lawrence felt, however, that even though everyone was able to run together, they weren’t running fast enough. “The positive is that we had so many people in that race but the negative is that their times were slow. No one ran under six minutes for the first mile and no one ran under 12 minutes for the second mile. The only mile under six was the last one because they were on the track and jockeying for position.”

            Junior Tyler Prince felt that with time, the team will get faster and more aggressive in the races. He said, “Now that Laddie has started giving us harder speed and hill workouts, we should be much more competitive by the end of the season and we should be able to catch up to a lot of teams.”

9/20/05 By Andrew Klein  Staples and Danbury have always had highly competitive distance runners on their cross-country teams, and on Tuesday, Staples was hoping that their deep pack could push to the front of the race in order to beat Danbury’s upfront strength.

            Staples went into the race with a 3-0 record after defeating Wilton, Westhill, and Stamford last week. The Windham Invitational on Saturday showed that the team was going to need to step it up, especially right off the starting line, in order to compete with Danbury.

On Tuesday, the goal was to stick with a fast-starting Danbury team and eventually pass them as Staples gained speed in the ladder part of the race. After the gun, the first task was accomplished, but eventually, the goal wasn’t as attainable.

            Coach Laddie Lawrence said, “We were more aggressive off the starting line and that was a plus. Even the Danbury coach, recognized that we had a fast start.”

            With Senior Quad-Captains Remi Ray and Jason Hanrahan as the top Staples finishers in third (16:27) and seventh (17:01) respectively, Danbury was able to score low (19-38). In the end, they were able to put their seven varsity runners in front of Staples’ fifth, and swept Staples along with St. Jo’s (15-50), and Greenwich (24-34).

            “The score looks rather lopsided in Danbury’s favor but the race was actually closer than the results showed,” said Lawrence.

            Senior Quad-Captain Henry Kaplan said that there were both positives and negatives to the race. He said, “The negatives are the fact that Danbury got the best of us. They put a good amount of their varsity runners in front of ours and that was a very powerful factor in the score and allowed them to win convincingly.”

            At the same time he said, “It was the third meet of the season yet the first meet that we started to get into the groove of things. We showed competitiveness and it’s a good sign that we’re on pace to hit full stride.”

            Additionally positive is that Staples still won the dual meets over Greenwich and St. Jo’s and has a winning 5-1 record in the race for the Central Division title.

            “We’re now going to transition from summer base mileage into more speed and hill-specific training,” said Lawrence. “We’re going to capitalize on the strength [of our runners]. If everyone got a distance base in, then now we’re going to need to sharpen it up.”

            Lawrence also mentioned that despite Tuesday’s loss, Staples will be stronger by FCIACs (which is in one month) to have a better competition against Danbury. Before then, however, Darien will be the next tough test in two weeks.