On the 16th-18th of September, the 2016-2017 Cross Country team ran at the exchange in Kanchanaburi. It was an interesting race with excellent results. “This is true cross country, not running around Lake Nichada. It was not easy but that is what made it authentic and rugged.” said Varsity Girls Coach, David Giles. “The course was a ‘real’ cross country course, on paths and trails, with hills and twists and turns. The boys had trained on it once before so they were ready to go,” added Daniel Bentley, the Varsity Boys Coach.

The results for the boys from this exchange were great, as “our senior and captain James Pratt led ISB’s dominance with 2nd place overall (18:03) just 6 seconds off the heels of an SAS runner, ”coach Bentley said about the Varsity Boys Captain. “Junior Jackson Carroll had a breakthrough race grabbing 4th in a time of 18:44. Rohit Pal was just 4 seconds off Jackson landing 3 ISB boys in the top 5.  With a top 3 like this, any coach is stoked.”

While the Varsity Girls’ teams results may not have been as impressive, their spirit and determination will serve them well in the upcoming tournament. “I love the attitude of our girls team and [I] see the desire to get better,” claimed coach Giles. “We had a time trial in the pouring rain on a Friday morning at 5:30 AM and so many runners ran their fastest time! That said a lot about our spirit and toughness.”

Some people say that the way you feel before a race is what controls how well you do. “I felt very inspired, but also slightly sad because I was not going to be running in my first ever exchange,” stated Will Condra (10) about the journey there. Ava Alam (9) on the other hand was not feeling too great, claiming that “It is difficult to succinctly describe how [she] was feeling on the way there; there were so many emotions and thoughts running through [her] head. [She] was excited to meet so many like-minded people but also very nervous and apprehensive about the race.”

When asked if the team could have done better, the Girls Varsity coach Giles replied with, “runners are never completely satisfied. We can always improve. I think some of our team ran great races while others were shocked at the intense pace. Our girls team is new and inexperienced so this was a good taste. I would like to see us do much better at IASAS. Bottom line is that we need to get faster and BELIEVE we can race with anyone.  If we run this way and run as a team, we will surprise some teams.” The team was happy about their results but of course everyone has spaces to improve. Ava Alam explained how she could have done better, stating that “I do believe I could have performed better and could have pushed harder up those hills.”

“As coaches we have our expectations of how we feel our runners can perform in any given race,” said Mr. Bentley. “From time to time a runner or two might surprise you and surpass that expectation but at the exchange/invitational I found myself in uncharted waters when over half the team obliterated my expectations and established their place as the team to beat in IASAS and beyond. It was truly inspiring to watch.”

It is said that in sports and in anything you do in life, you need to create goals.Will Condra has some goals to achieve this season, and he is pressing himself to make these goals a reality. “I plan to reach below an 18 minute 5K by the end of the season, I also plan to not get injured (high hopes for me). I would like to accomplish these for my own sense of achievement but also because it would help my team tremendously.” Ava Alam set some goals not only for this season but for season to come. “My goal for cross country is to feel as if I have learned and improved as much as I can over the course of a season and feel accomplished and satisfied with all that I have achieved. I do not want to be disappointed or have any regrets regarding the final outcome of my cross country journey.”

What a great outcome from all of the team’s hard work and perseverance. You can definitely tell that there is going to be some good results from IASAS this year! Fingers crossed that the injured runners heal and the training runners get enough rest. Who will go for that extra mile in order to pull the Panthers into first place at IASAS?

Megan Black