Cross Country Takes Third in District, Places Three Runners in Top Ten

Posted October 26, 2017 / Last updated November 3, 2017

Freshman Jack Wallace holds off a Holy Cross Tiger down the stretch of the District 9-5A Championship on Wednesday, Oct. 25.

Freshman Jack Wallace, senior Jordan Tufts, and sophomore Brandon Hall finished 6th, 9th, and 10th, respectively, at the District 9-5A championship on Wednesday, Oct. 25, leading the Blue Jays to a third place overall finish.

Wallace blazed through the three-mile City Park course with a time of 16:04, followed by Tufts at 16:21 and Hall at 16:24. After that it was senior Michael Williams (16:46) and junior Harrison LeBlanc (16:51), followed by seniors Jonathan Arnold (17:20) and Brenner Rauch (17:40).

Wallace, Hall, Williams, and Leblanc all broke their personal records (PRs).

“I’m proud of our guys,” said Coach Rudy Horvath ’86. “I can’t ask for much more than that. When four of your top five run PRs in the district meet, that’s a solid outing.”

While he was pleased with his team’s performance, Horvath spent almost as much time after the race talking about the crowd.

“I’m humbled by the crowd we had out here. What a great atmosphere to race in. I guarantee it helped our guys, especially down the home stretch. My sincere thanks to all the students who came out, and to my fellow coaches who brought their entire teams to cheer us on.”

Indeed, if the there was a trophy for crowd size, the Jays would have won hands-down. In addition to the healthy student turnout, several faculty members and administrators showed up–Jesuit president Fr. Christopher Fronk, S.J., Jesuit principal Peter Kernion ’90, athletic director Dave Moreau, Fr. Paul Shaughnessy, S.J., Fr. Kevin Dyer, S.J., John Lavie ’83, Kevin Murphy ’00, Rob Weiss ’87, and Mike Prados ’83 among them. And, in what has become somewhat of a tradition, coaches Chris Jennings ’78 and Jonathan Hernandez ’00 brought the basketball team out to show its support before returning to the Birdcage for practice. They were joined by the wrestling team, which also came out in force. Meanwhile, the Office of Institutional Advancement sent an email blast to cross country alumni that drew several former runners out. Tom Bagwill, Jeremy Reuther ’01, Mat Grau ’68, and Jack Culotta, Jr. ’13 represented the Office of Institutional Advancement at the meet.

“I bet we had at least 100 students out there,” said Horvath. “And probably another 100 supporters.”

Next up for the Jays is the Regional Meet on Friday, Nov. 3. Race time is 4:00 p.m. at City Park.

Galleries

Cross Country District Oct 25 2017

Assistant coach Peter Flores '09 monitors the proceedings.
Charlie Cyrus, Jack Carmello, Mason Murret, D.J. Bent, and Max Holmes cheer on the runners.
Matthew Joubert, Jackson Wender, and Morgan Hebert cheer on their fellow cross country team members.
Wrestlers Jack Carmello, Mason Murret, and D.J. Bent show their love for the cross country team at the awards ceremony.
Former Jesuit teacher and assistant cross country coach Scott Thompson talks with principal Peter Kernion '90 and head coach Rudy Horvath '86.
English teacher Mike Prados '83 can always be counted on to show up for the district meet.
Fr. Kevin Dyer, S.J., Jesuit's chaplain, made the rounds.
Jesuit principal Peter Kernion '90 is flanked by Fr. Paul Shaughnessy, S.J. and Jack Culotta '13, who works in Jesuit's office of Institutional Advancement.
Marie and Fred Tufts enjoy a laugh with Jesuit President Fr. Christopher Fronk, S.J.
The basketball team came out to the race before returning to the Birdcage for practice.
Brenner Rauch battles a Tiger.
Harrison Leblanc holds off a Crusader.
Michael Williams battles to the wire.
Brandon Hall gives it his all.
Jack Wallace sprints to the finish.
Jack Wallace tries to hold off a Holy Cross Tiger down the stretch.
Jordan Tufts keeps pace.
Harrison LeBlanc finds his stride.
Brenner Rauch has Raiders and Crusaders breathing down his neck.
Jesuit students race across the course to support the team at another point on the course.
Garrett Crumb and Timmy Stahel cheer on their fellow team members.
Jordan Tufts and Jack Wallace settle in for the long haul.
Jesuit runners sprint for early positioning.
And they're off!
Senior Jordan Tufts, center, gets his game face on.
The team heads to the start.
Adam Larriviere and his cohorts from the wrestling team came out to support the team, even trying to rile up the crowd at the start with some wrestling moves.
Assistant coach Peter Flores '09, facing camera, talks with head coach Rudy Horvath '86.
Jesuit teacher Kevin Murphy '00 and his daughter, Claire, were among the supporters.
Jesuit students turned out in force to support the team.