On Dec. 2, the boys cross country team was one of only twenty two teams that qualified for Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon where they traveled to compete against the top teams in the nation.
Following their outstanding performances this season, the boys had high hopes for the outcome of this race. However, their nineteenth place finish did not quite meet their expectations. Coming out on top in most of their meets, the Blue Devils hoped to place in the top 10. But when the boys were running alongside teams with much more experience at the course than them, they ultimately fell short.
Going into this race, the Blue Devils knew this run would be more difficult than any of their previous meets. “We had never been up against such good competition or run a course similar to the one we would race on for nationals. All of us had high goals for the national meet but at the same time we were all just thrilled for the opportunity to go to Oregon at all,” said senior captain Avery Keith. “Our goal was to go out and run our own races and try not to race too eagerly in the excitement of the meet. It is easy to go out too hard or run unintelligently in a high caliber race such as nationals.”
“There was a lot of inexperience. About half of the runners and teams are regulars at that meet, so they are there every year,” said head coach Chris Tafelski. “The level of competition and the stress is not new for them like it was for us.”
Additionally, the conditions of the course led to poor performances from all teams. Due to rain last weekend, the course was muddy and soft, with some sections of the course looking like a “lake that was shin deep,” Tafelski said.
However, Keith refuses to excuse the team from their disappointing performance. “We could make all the excuses in the world and blame sickness, jet lag or course conditions but in reality, all teams were facing those same obstacles,” he said. “We didn’t perform up to our expectations but we all went out there and raced our hearts out like we always do.”
Keith led the Blue Devils, placing 81 out of 201 runners. This performance gave Westfield 39 points. Following Keith, junior Ryan Daly scored 72 points with an overall ranking of 120. Senior captain Jimmy Gildea and senior captain Tage Mehta finished within 0.2 seconds of each other scoring 95 and 96 points. The fifth and final scorer for Westfield was senior captain Eamon Mason. Mason placed 179 overall and provided 129 points for Westfield.
While Westfield’s performance during nationals was not up to their standards, it does not reflect their historic season. Following their New Jersey record and highest Meet of Champions performance in over 25 years, it is easy to look at their performance and criticize their placement. Nevertheless, the boys placed 19th out of the best 22 teams nationally and became ranked as the 19th best XC program in the country.
