The cross country team finished its season on Saturday, Nov. 28 at the NikeCross Nationals Southeast Regional competition in Cary, N.C., with the boys placing twelth out of 28, and the girls placing tenth out of 14. Although the team’s placing was respectable, it was not high enough for the team to qualify for nationals. This marked an end to a long winning spree which had brought the boys team to the national stage undefeated in their regular season, and No. 1 in the county and state championships.

“Overall the season went pretty well, with our boys pulling through some tough times,” said sophomore runner Josh Ellis.

Although the team did not reach nationals, they are still proud to have been the only WJ team to win a state title so far this year. Their disappointment at the nationals qualifier was in part due to a series of external factors.

“It was never the ideal circumstances for any races, with someone sick or not running well,” said Ellis.

Senior Sean O’Leary, the team’s No.1 runner, was not able to participate in the nationals qualifier due to an unidentified ailment experienced at the State championship on Nov. 14. While running in fourth place, O’Leary collapsed 100 meters from the finish line. By the time he dragged himself to the finish line, he had dropped to 25th place. After spending several nights in a hospital, O’Leary texted a few team members saying that his season was over.

“If Sean had run [in the national qualifier], we would have done a lot better,” said sophomore runner Scott Sheehan.

A general lack of fan support and interest from the school body did not help as the team strove to accomplish their numerous victories.

Despite all of its problems, the team’s achievements are extraordinary. They attribute most of their success to good morale, hard training and coach Tom Martin, who has taken the team to two straight state titles.

“Coach Martin really gets us psyched and helps us run well,” said Sheehan.

The runners expect next year to be even better than this one, and they anticipate with glee the chance to prove themselves as an elite team in the country.

“[Next year] we’re going to do what we always do – strive to be the best,” said Martin.

Although many runners such as O’Leary and senior Ishan Dey will be graduating this year, many will continue to serve the team well next year.

“We’ll be good next season with a solid four returning and hopefully we’ll be able to have a season that is less plagued by problems,” said Ellis.