Cross Country caps undefeated season as ISL champions
On Friday, 3 November, RL’s cross country team earned the title of league champion after competing against 15 other schools in the Independent School League Cross Country Championships, hosted by Lawrence Academy. The varsity team entered the race with a season record of 16-0, having completed its first undefeated dual-meet season since 1999.
At the start of the race, Ben Lawlor I and Will Cote IV led a pack of top ISL runners, outrun only by the eventual winner from Tabor Academy. Following closely behind were RL’s third through sixth runners with co-captain Will Connaughton I, George Madison V, and Daniel Gillis III leading the way. Javi Werner IV followed toward the middle of that group poised to pick up positions as the race progressed, and co-captain Robert Crawford I was close behind. As the race developed, RL’s runners held their positions and controlled their paces over a true cross-country course, which included a variety of challenging terrain.
In the end, RL runners placed 2nd, 3rd, 11th, 12th, 22nd, 29th, and 31st, posting a team score of 50 points, good for a first-place finish. This marks RL’s first ISL Championship in cross country. The Independent School League Championship meet began in 1972, and the cross country program at RL began in 1977. RL has placed second of the 16 league teams five previous times—in 1994, 1997, 1999, 2006, and 2016.
On Friday, the junior varsity cross country team also placed first, with runners filling the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 9th spots. The JV team caps off a winning season record of 14-2 and will join the varsity team this coming weekend as they travel to the Berkshire School for the New England Division 2 Cross Country championships. RL has previously earned the New England Championship four times—in 1993, 1994, 1999, and 2006.
RL’s junior cross country team has also completed an undefeated season (18-0), recently topping all twelve opponents at the Roxbury Latin Junior Jamboree meet, hosted on campus, with 28 points between their first-place win and a second-place Belmont Hill.View photos from the ISL Championship meet by John Werner.