Quick Facts

• Coach: Lucas Ames
• 2010 MAC/ISL results: Girls 8 of 16 in the ISL; Boys 5 of 7 in MAC.
• Opening Meet: Sept. 6 at home

Back in 2007, the varsity Cross Country team at Flint Hill had just 20 runners on its team, but the popularity of the sport and the overall improvement under Coach Lucas Ames, has resulted in the team doubling to nearly 40 runners this fall.

The team will host its first meet at 4 p.m. today with Paul VI, John Paul the Great, Madeira and St. Steph/St. Agnes coming by to race around the track.

“Our program is still relatively nascent so we focus a lot on individual goals and life skills,” Ames said. “The entire team will focus on three key lessons this season: sacrifice, perseverance and confidence. The girls will participate in a self-confidence program that I created called ‘Believe to Achieve.’”

Seniors Anthony Lynch and Alex Dreo will lead the boys team as captains and Dana Alloy will be the girls captain. Additionally, the coach is counting on key performances from a number of non-seniors.

“Sophomores Moritz Ruge and Tommy Blackwell have a chance of being our number one runner for boys, and freshman Logan Cunningham may be our best girls runner,” Ames said. "Logan Cunningham has completed a triathlon and ran impressive 5k times all summer. If she stays healthy she has a chance of being a top finisher in the conference and state championships.”

Even though the team lost nearly 1/3 of its runners to graduation, Ames and assistant coaches Margaret Noojin and Patricia Smith like what they are seeing in early practices and believe this makeup will make some noise.

“This year’s senior class has always been our strongest cohort, so if we stay injury-free, we should improve,” Ames said. “If we can make steady progress up the standings in our league, I will be happy.”

Unlike other sports, where you play one game at a time and try not to think about the final championship, in cross-country, the runners use each meet as a primer to bettering their times and skills to ready themselves for those final competitions. 

The ISL/MAC championship takes place this season Oct. 29 and is considered the key meet of the year.

“Last year the girls had their best finish (8 of 16) in the ISL and the boys were 5 of 7 in the MAC,” Ames said. “We’re always looking to improve on our performance at conference and state championship meets. We’ve improved each of the past three years, but our progress has been incremental.”

Prior to the championships, the team will compete against Potomac on Oct. 4, will take part in the Glory Days Invitational at Bull Run Park on Oct. 8 and will host St. James at home Oct. 18.

“This team truly is a family,” Ames said. “The camaraderie among runners with such varying athletic abilities and social groups is tremendous. It’s going to be a great season.”