This was a big season for the Bernards Cross country team because they won their division.The cross country team is coached by Mr. Szostak. He has been coaching for many years. This season they have many new members on their varsity team. The reason for this is that last year the Track team lost 11 of its seniors who graduated. Although no freshman have moved up to varsity this year Alex Kotwick, a sophomore has stepped up and ran with varsity. Based on highschoolsportsnj.com their overall record in their division is 4-0 and right now they are running well despite losing many of their seniors. Alex Kotwick said, “It doesn’t really matter how many seniors we have lost the team has worked together well and stepped up to overcome this new obstacle.”
The captain of their team is Richard Gruters who is the number one runner. Trailing slightly behind him is his younger brother Stuart Gruters who is running very high in the lineup for a sophomore. They have had 4 major matchups against other schools and have beaten them all.
Another sophomore who has moved up after running during their freshman year was Thomas Perone. Thomas is running for varsity now and has said many good things about the team. “We have been doing great and the team has really pulled together as a whole. I know that personally it has been a great experience for me being able to run for varsity,” said Perone. This season the most memorable moment occurred at the end. This was when in the division finals the Bernards Cross Country team went against Warren Hills. Perone said, “It was really close and we were only able to win by 1 point but it was an important win nonetheless. As a result we were able to win the division finals.” Although the cross country team lost soon after in the conference it was great that they were able to win their division conference.
