It was a great day for GA Boys’ Cross Country. Coming into today, GA Boys’ Cross Country had an undefeated season and they kept it that way on GA/PC Day. GA breezed by PC with a final score of 27 (GA) to 39 (PC). This score came as a result of Sean Morgan’s first place time of 17:11 and Stuart Udis’s third place time of 17:46. PC’s main threat Lex Mercado, who won GA/PC last year, was the favorite going into the race, but came up short in a second place finish of 17:35. A strong core of sophomores and seniors proved that one runner cannot win it all. Yeremiah Shemule placed fourth with a time of 17:52 and Myron Turner, Don Smith, and Ivan Alber almost all finished simultaneously with scores of 18:15, 18:16, and 18:16. One thing to mention is that as Myron Turner was finishing Don Smith came flying in and knocked Myron through the finish line.  That group of 3 finished sixth, seventh, and eighth with only Matt Gannon and Lex Mercado of PC finishing before them. Captain Ivan Alber said, after the race “It was a great way to cap off a great season of hard work and championships. Penn Charter never stood a chance.” Freshman Tyler Cross finished 15th with his personal course best 20:15. His fellow freshman runners Stephen Au (22:55) and Eric Boettjer (23:45) had a strong day. Other seniors Trevor Beard and Tim Hulme placed 13th and 16th with times of 20:06 and 20:28, respectively. Other strong sophomore included Michael Ramos (19:12) and Andrew Cheng (22:00).  Coaches Neil Jordan, Sean Kelly, and Dr. Brian Burke were very satisfied with the results of the season. After the race, coach Jordan said that this would be the start to a tradition of GA Boys’ Cross Country greatness. With the return of Michael Stamm, Dean Tye, Michael Bigwood, and Bryan Erdner next year, GA Boys’ Cross Country looks like a force to be reckoned with.

Pre-game Report

Cross-Country Teams Seem Unstoppable
Patriot Boys  -  by Tyler Cross ‘06

As PC day approaches and looms larger in the minds of the student body, many heads turn instinctively towards the football field. Can we win? Will we claim the title, which should rightfully be ours? Those are nice thoughts, but remember football is not the sole event in GA/PC day. There are also boys’ and girls’ soccer, water polo, field hockey, and tennis. (Am I missing any?) Oh yeah! GA’s X-country team." What about them?"

Maybe it’s because their event is at some ungodly hour in the morning (people should not wake up and run before noon), but X-country seems to be overlooked in the rush of things. Yes, they compete, both boys and girls, and yes both WILL win. For the girls at least it’s not a question, they beat PC before, overwhelmingly, and can do so again. For the guys’ team, however, there might be a small challenge. Next to GA, PC is the strongest team in the Inter-Ac. Their first runner, Lex Mercado, even had the audacity to beat Sean Morgan at Inter-Ac Champs, a score he made for up at states. Yet, unfortunately for PC they have much less in the way of talent after their precious Lex Mercado. GA has no such problem. Placing easily within a minute and a half of Sean is the rest of the Varsity team. After Sean comes Stuart Udis, then Myron Turner, Yeremiah Shemuale, Don Smith, Ivan Alber, and Trevor Beard (not necessarily in that exact order). We have beaten PC in every meet we have competed against them in, but have yet to face them in a dual meet. I’m sure they think they can beat us, but they’re wrong. One decent person can’t win a meet, but seven good people can. So come out on Saturday early, you won’t be any colder than the runners, and watch GA cream PC in the first event of the day.

Originally published in the Academy Edition, 11.08.02