By Jesse Schiffman ‘25 and Daniel Schiffman ‘23 The GOA cross-country team recently enjoyed its most successful season in the school’s history. The Boys Varsity squad finished the regular season at the very top of the Super Essex Conference Colonial Division standings, and also won the division's championship meet on October 14. Led by senior captain Daniel Schiffman and Coach Chris Troyano, the team got into shape and eagerly prepared for their first meet on September 13. While the runners officially began training in August, members of the team trained rigorously throughout the summer in preparation.
"Preseason was amazing," said sophomore Ari Jacobs. "We all worked very hard and intensely during the summer, and we intended on carrying that training over to the season." Although the Boys Varsity team left their first meet victorious, the squad, was not content with just their first win, possessing far greater aspirations. The boys built off of their initial performance and carried that momentum throughout the rest of the regular season, in which they won every one of their meets. Even more impressively, the team routinely outperformed schools in higher divisions, such as Cedar Grove, Glen Ridge and West Essex High School. While the successes in these meets were certainly reasons to celebrate, the squad instead continued to look forward, as the upcoming championship meet would give them a shot at the overall division title. "Throughout the season, we had been running well and winning our meets, but we maintained our focus on the division championship," said senior Daniel Schiffman. “We felt we could prove ourselves against the very best competition." Initially set for Thursday, October 13, the championship meet had to be postponed due to poor weather conditions. Rescheduled the next day for a Friday afternoon, it seemed as if religious interference with Shabbat might once again hamper the team's competitive aspirations. Fortunately, the joint efforts of Mr. Kozar, Coach Troy, Rabbi Nevins and Dr. Apter allowed the team to attend the meet even though it ended less than two hours before Shabbat. Once at the 5-kilometer race, the team quickly found themselves at home. GOA dominated the competition, placing an outstanding five runners in the overall top eight. Headlining the results, Daniel Schiffman placed 2nd at 19:24, Jesse Schiffman 4th at 20:27, Alex Leftkowitz 5th at 20:47, Joey Askin 6th at 21:08 while Ari Jacobs finished 8th at 21:38. Most runners were able to significantly cut their times from the first meet, which amplified the team and each individuals’ remarkable achievement. Following their exceptional performance, the squad received two plaques: one for finishing first in the regular season with an undefeated record and another for the championship meet. Even after celebrating together, the boys still were able to get home in time for Shabbat. The championship victory was both a happy and emotional moment for Coach Chris Troyano, who has coached at the school since 2001. This year, he finally led the team to the first division title in GOA history. "At the start of the season, I was definitely not the most talented cross country athlete, but as the season wore on, I trained hard and ultimately improved my times by a great margin," said junior Joey Askin. “As a team, we never stopped working. I believe that that persistent effort is what helped us win the division title and ultimately become the most successful cross-country team in school history." Comments are closed.
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EditorsArielle Karni Archives
December 2024
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