More Fall Sports Updates: Cross Country Off and Running; Volleyball Young but Learning

Legendary Czech long distance runner, Emil Zatopek, once said, “We are different, in essence, from others. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.” At the Olympic games in 1952, Zatopek won both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races, and then at the last minute, decided to run the 26 mile marathon, which he won, two minutes faster than the next runner, the only Olympian to ever win a trifecta. 

     The Varsity Cross Country team certainly can be seen to embrace Zatopek’s philosophy of discovering oneself through rigorous training and joy of running. Coaches Tricia Dowcett and Karen Swain, also stress the notion that in running, it does not matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. The satisfaction is in being able to say “I have finished”, and in doing so, have done your very best. The program also benefits from the assistance of Doug Levens, who coaches a local triathlon team (Nutmeg Youth Triathlon Team). Doug also coaches a paralympic triathlon team, and he and Mrs. Dowcett are trail running buddies on the weekends.

     This year’s team is led by veterans John Bazaar (HH's own version of Zatopek), Michael Lee, Steven Zhang, and Rosa Wang. John B, in fact, is one of the participants in Coach Levens’s triathlon team, and recently completed the Green Mountain Stage race, a 200+ mile bike race in Vermont! Both John B. and Steven Z. participated in the New Haven Grand Prix, a series of bike races in downtown New Haven, two weeks ago. Coach Dowcett stated that because this year’s group of runners are so motivated, they have been doing more distance runs than in past years, including a regular run up to the summit of East Rock, and do hill repeats weekly.

     What seemed like summer's reappearance last Saturday made for a difficult day at the Canterbury Invitational, where only the top runners from each invited school compete. The challenging course is mostly exposed, and temperatures hovered in the 80's.  Nevertheless, our runners ran strong and finished well. John Bazaar led the way for the Hornets, finishing 15th out of 142 runners, with a time of 19:08. Freshman John Golioto made an exciting debut, sprinting hard up the final hill to finish 41st in 20:53, passing sophomore Marlon Ward (44th) and Steven Zhang (46th) in a tight pack. Michael Lee, junior Nathan Thomas and senior Zean Wu all finished strong. In the final tally, the boys' team finished 9th out of 19 teams.

     Our girls' team was sparse but fierce.  Senior captain Rosa Wang finished 28th out of 94 runners with a time of 24:08, followed by Catherine Zhang (73rd) and Lucy Xu (75th) in her first big invitational. This weekend, all of our runners will compete at the O'Connell Invitational at Cheshire Academy.

     To acknowledge the team’s efforts, an unknown runner, a bit less polished than Zatopek once said about cross country, “Your sweat is your fat crying; keep it up!”

Click on the following link to view a gallery of photos from the Canterbury race, thanks to parent Mrs. Lee:

 

     While most fall teams are competing outside, there’s still plenty of court action going on inside the Beckerman Center, which Varsity Volleyball calls home. The Hornets are led this year by senior co-captains, Shannon Rhone and Lexi Mackay. Despite a 0-4 start, the team has shown their opponents that they are ready to battle under the guidance of six year veteran coach Ms. Nally Sahin. With more than half the team new to the sport, the relatively young squad has taken a defensive approach to their game. With each match, they are improving and challenging teams in and out of their league. Rhone leads the team in Assists, Kills, and Service Aces, while Mackay is also pivotal to the offense with a high number of Kills and Aces. Senior Mari Clark is learning her new role as a middle hitter and back up setter. New to the program, sophomore Sophia Sarrazin has shown she is a threat on the left side of the court. Junior Carol Zijing Zhou is settling into her role as the team Libero. Filling out the remainder of the lineup are freshmen Olanma Ikekpeazu and Sabina Sarrazin. The Hornets’ next home match will be October 7th vs. MacDuffie.

     Clearly there are plenty of avenues at Hamden Hall to practice the classic philosophy, mens sana in corpore sano - A sound mind in a sound body.