This past weekend ISB was fortunate enough to host the cross country exchange. All IASAS schools attended except for Taipei, however we were lucky to welcome the American International School of Guangzhou. With almost 120 participating athletes, there was a high level of competition, and our Panthers achieved great things.

On Saturday morning, the athletes raced a 5km at Buddhamonthon Park. After both the girls and boys raced, all the teams returned to ISB. The athletes had a short rest period to recover and then began their second race of 2.5km in the late afternoon.

The ISB Panthers overall had a very successful meet. The boys dominated all other schools and took first place in the 5km and 2.5km. Out of the first eleven boys to finish the 5km race, seven of them were from ISB, with the top three all coming from ISB. Only a freshman, Rohit Pal, won the race, followed by Robbie Melhorn (12), and Zach McVey (12). In the afternoon race, the boys continued their impressive display of running. Co-captain Zach McVey claims their success as being “pretty dope.”

The girls also performed exceptionally well and obtained 2nd place in the 5km and 2.5km. The girls’ running abilities were more spread out than the boys, however they still had their fair share of dominance. In the 5km race, Becky Bradley (11) came in 4th place while Kana Ichimura (10) came in 5th. Captain Becky Bradley revealed she was “most excited to learn that every single girl on [their] team got a PB (personal best).”

As IASAS is less than five weeks away, both teams will continue working extremely hard to achieve the end goal of a gold medal. On the tail of a great weekend retreat in Kanchanaburi and recent success at this exchange, the teams can enter the final half of the season with eager determination. The final challenge will come at IASAS at International School Manila from Oct. 16-18.

by Becky Bradley