One win is in the books. The Malvern Middle School Cross Country team won their one and only home meet on September 22. Because this was our only home meet, we like to think of this as a confidence booster. There are only a meager six kids. Four of which are returners. 

The team was excited to be joined by new runner Max Davis, who had gotten involved in running by his older brother. Max, who works hard every day said, “My parents inspire me to train harder every day.”

Arman, Liam, Brance, and Luke are all returning 7th graders. Killian, the winner, is in 8th grade. Max, an up and coming 6th grader, had a great race. 

Led by a great coach, Coach Tyoe mixes fun with hard practices. “I want my runners to fall in love with running, develop running skills and bond as team members. I like to do a combination of hard and fun practices. You can often see the middle school cross country team running on scavenger hunts or while playing hide and seek after a day of running hills.”

After a few grueling meets, the cross country team arrived at Belmont Plateau. The location for the Inter-Ac Championship. Looking at a taxing hill, some spirits diminished. As we were warming up, we ran around the part of the course. We saw a gravel trail and a beautiful array of tree lines. We heard the crunching of leaves, chattering of rivals, and the steps of feet. We stretched in a circle anticipating a fatiguing race.  

Walking down to the start line, all of us were in the zone. As we lined up at the start line, we stared at our competitors. We were told that there would be a whistle and a gun to start. 

Did all of us listen?

Of course not!

When the whistle went off another girl jumped, so Arman Patel looked over. 

And then, “Boooom”

The gun went off. 

A pack took off and soon you couldn’t see anyone. As the race went on, there seemed to be a clear winner. Killian Todd had developed a convincing lead over the rest of the speedy field. As he crossed the finished line, the crowd erupted in cheers as he won first place. 

About a minute later, Arman came racing to the finish line with about 3 people, all of whom were Haverford runners. He was last in the pack with about 20 meters left, but ended up catching 1 runner to end up in 4th place, being the top 7th grader in the Inter-Acs. 

With a third place finish in the Inter-Ac, Coach Tyoe had great things to say about the season. She said, “ I think we had a great season. Everyone improved on their personal records and ran as hard as they could. Taking third place in the Inter-Ac, with 1st and 4th place individual performances was rewarding. Hopefully with most of our runners returning, we can do even better next year!”