Last Saturday, the Women’s and Men’s cross country teams hit the ground running with strong results at the Regional Preview Meet in South Portland. The women’s team won the competition, forming a block of runners from third place through ninth place. The men’s team finished as a runner-up to Brandeis University, with Matthew Servin ’27 in the lead at 11th place.

This race, being a preview meet, was shorter than usual—3.3K for the women’s team and 4.3K for the men’s team, as compared to 6K and 8K, respectively. In these short races, approaches differ greatly between teams, so the end result was difficult to predict.

“It can kind of be a wild card [event] because some teams really try and go, because it is an under distance [race]. You can really go as fast as you want, and so you never really know what the team plans are,” Laura White ’29 said. “Our coach intentionally chose for us to run an under-distance race so that we’re not really focusing on the times. We can’t really compare it to anything because we want it to be a workout, and it’s under distance, so you can’t really be too caught up with how you did performance-wise.”

Instead the team focused on the process of the race, practicing strategy for the rest of the season. White, who finished third in the 3.3K race, explained the team’s plan going into the competition.

“What we were supposed to be doing Saturday was, the first half, like a workout [with] a tempo pace. [In] the second half of it, we really started to ramp it up, and so we were split into pacing groups and it was executed really well,” White said.

Head Coach Ben Raphelson explained this strategy was key to the team’s strong performance.

“[The team] ran in pretty large groups for most of the race, which was a fun way to help manage nerves and develop confidence out there. And for the most part, a number of those groups pretty much stayed together from start to finish, and that had a pretty positive impact on our scoring,” Raphelson said.

Saturday also provided a perfect opportunity for the Polar Bears to scout out the course and get a feel for working as a team.

“It was definitely a good way to preview the regional course for later on in the season, and just to get great working with the team and feel out the 8K pace for when we start running the full distance,” Daniel Smith ’30 said. “It felt good to just be with the guys and actually being in that competition environment, even if it wasn’t the hardest effort ever.”

The team hopes to keep the momentum going for the rest of the season. The team plans to focus on the behind-the-scenes processes rather than just the outcomes.

“I think our coach, Ben, has been very good at having us focus more on process goals, so I think more so for the season … as a team [our goal is] being a more cohesive team, working together, looking forward to practicing for another and being consistent with our training. Really just showing up every day for work,” White said.

Next up for the team will be the Maine State Meet on September 19th, held right at home at the Pickard Cross Country Course.