The Rochester Adams Cross Country Team hosted its end-of-season banquet on November 20 at Addison Oaks Banquet Hall. The team celebrated a great season and the accomplishments its members achieved. Runners received a variety of trophies and awards, all of the seniors made speeches, and many tears were shed. With such a great season, here are some of the highlights.

The Varsity Boys’ Cross Country Team trained all summer in hopes of a great season. Starting with their time trials on August 20, the whole team looked promising. A couple meets into the season, the boys won second place back to back at the OAA Red Jamboree and the Averill Memorial Invitational.

As the season continued, a couple team members had promising chances to make it to States, including senior Nathan Stadwick, senior Peter Tkac, and sophomore Matt Schiller. Only sophomore Matt Schram and senior Adam Beck qualified for States at the regional meet.

The varsity team consists of the top seven runners, and this year’s team was made up of mostly seniors. The boys wished to have made it to states as a team but are undoubtedly proud of Schram and Beck for their accomplishments.

“We had a lot of seniors returning to the varsity team this year, and I wish we had ended the season on a better note. But Adam Beck had an amazing finish, and he’s a good representation of our team,” said senior captain Nathan Stadwick.

Schram was one of this season’s top runners and even made it to States despite a broken leg.

“My season went pretty bad actually. I broke my leg at the beginning of the season, and I was out for four weeks. I came back thinking it was healed, but apparently it wasn’t. I ran at States with a broken leg and Adam Beck killed me,” said Schram.

Junior Matt Schiller, another vital varsity runner, also suffered from an injury this season.

“I got injured halfway through the season and had to sit out one race which was disappointing, but I’d like to think that I bounced back pretty well. I had high hopes for the last race but it didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked,” said Schiller.

Coach Gary Inman and Coach Eric Lohr were vital to the success of the cross country team.They worked the boys hard and pushed them in the right direction.

“No matter how bad my school day was, I knew I could always look forward to seeing Inman’s perfect smile for two hours every day,” said senior captain Peter Tkac.

Beck improved his best time by thirty seconds and took 21st for AllState, making him the fourth fastest runner in Highlander history.

“It was just a really fun season all around. I’d never thought I’d make it that far. By the time the regional race came, I remembered all the training I’d done in the summer, the years past and throughout this season, obviously I knew it was something I could accomplish,” said Beck.

With the season officially over and the banquet concluded, some of the runners are gearing up for track, and the underclassmen are preparing to lead next year’s team.