Cheering for the seniors on the team, girls in vibrant red and white cross country uniforms waved brightly decorated posters during the Saratoga Tri-meet last October, the only home meet of the year.
Per tradition, the cross country team has its Senior Day at the Saratoga Tri-meet, when it competes against Lynbrook and Prospect. During the school day, seniors are dressed up in costumes, while the rest of the girls’ team sports their team shirts. After the race, the coaches formally acknowledge the seniors and thank them for their dedication to the team.
Due to the Measure E construction near the upper field, the home meet cannot occur this year. The course usually starts at the track, goes through the upper field behind the science wing, cuts through the side parking lot and loops back to the track through the Sports Plaza. The team usually runs eight races, but this year, they will only be running seven.
Instead of the meet, the girls’ team plans on having more time trials on the track to emulate the real course, coach Danny Moon said.
Senior Stephen Law said the boys’ team plans on focusing more on important priorities, such as making the state meet. The boys’ team qualified last year and hopes to make it next year.
“It’s not that Senior Day is totally unimportant, but I feel that we should set our priorities toward training for the season. Not running that race is not that big a loss for me, but we kind of lose the school spirit since it’s my last year,” Law said.
In past years, the boys’ team made little gift bags and gave them to seniors after the meet. Their previous coach, Dan Ambrico, gave speeches to the seniors.
“[Coach Dan] would always say how this was probably the best cross country team the school could get,” Law said. “It was just recognizing our skills.”
The girls’ cross country team will celebrate the seniors’ work during practice, junior co-captain Alice Bian said.
“I’m going to miss the home meet, but we’ll do it next year,” Moon said. “Though there won’t be an official meet, the team can still smile while running at their home school.”