The 51st Canterbury Invitational took place on Saturday, September 22 at the Canterbury School in New Milford, CT. Twelve boys’ teams and eight girls’ teams competed in the Burke Division One (boys) and Tracey Gracia-Lavigne (girls) 5K races.
Last year, Boys Varsity Cross Country won the 50th Burke Division One race. Cooper Grace ’27 said, “Head Coach Pierre Yoo told us before the race that he just wanted us to have fun. Both co-captains Copey Rollins ’26 and John Coffin ’25 were coming back from injury, and we weren’t exactly sure how it was going to turn out. We really wanted to win, since it was the 50th year the [Burke] race was held. But this year, a lot of the pressure was off, because it was Copey’s first season back.”
The course at Canterbury starts off fast in the first mile due to relatively flat terrain. Runners then de-scend a steep hill with some sharp turns and must navigate three other substantial hills. Head Coach Kira Shaikh said, “Cross-country is absolutely a mental sport. It is physically tough—not a lot of people want to run as fast as they can for three miles straight. That mental toughness is definitely something we worked on in our practices. Each week we focused on pacing on the track, tackling hills, and sustaining that mental toughness.”
The team used a strategy called pack running, in which athletes run in groups to push each other to go faster. Coach Yoo said, “This was the first race of the season for some of our runners, so it was a great start to the competitive season. We still have some improvements to make if we aim to run well at the Founders League Championships at Taft on November 2 and the New England Division One Championships on November 9 here at Hotchkiss on Taft Day.”
The strategy helped the boys team win the race. Cooper Grace ’27 placed 3rd with a time of 17:07, Bastien Sever ’26 placed 4th at 17:22, Copey Rollins ’26 placed 5th at 17:25, Phillip Fauver ’26 placed 6th at 17:34, and John Coffin ’25 placed 7th at 17:34. Henry Thompson ’27 placed 14th with a time of 17:50, and newcomer Leo Hackett ’28 placed 32nd at 19:37. Grace said, “This is Copey and John’s first race of the season and they were able to keep up with the pack which was very impressive.”
Rollins said, “This year, our goal is to be the best Cross Country team the school has ever had. So that means winning the Founders League, and getting better than third at New Englands, since the school has never placed higher than third. We want to focus on running as a pack, because we know that is what will really help take us far.”
The girls finished third; Caleigh Lane ’27 placed 2nd at 19:59, co-captain Sawyer Eaton ’25 placed 10th at 22:36, Maeve Hottenrott ’25 placed 20th at 23:38, Amina Wang ’27 placed 24th at 23:58, co-cap-tain Nola Lai ’25 placed 29th at 24:41, Margaret Marcum ’28 placed 34th at 25:11, and co-captain Jami Huang ’25 placed 42nd at 26:06.
Coach Shaikh said, “They worked together running in packs, supporting each other throughout the race, and all of them executed their kicks perfectly. When every runner was tired at the end, they picked it up and left it all out there.”
Coach Yoo said, “This is just the first test. I am pleased with how our runners ran together, but I am even more excited by how this team will work together in the future.”
