Great cross country runners are able to run well in various weather and course conditions. The Trinity boys’ cross country team first won the District 3 Class 1A team and individual championships at Big Spring High School, Newville, on Halloween weekend in cold, rainy conditions that made the course mucky and treacherous to maintain balance around tight corners.
A week later at the PIAA State championships at Hershey’s Parkview, the immensely hilly course was dry, and the weather fairly balmy by November standards. There in Hershey amidst the smell of chocolate in the air, Trinity finished fourth in the team championship to cap off a great season for the ’Rocks’ harriers.
Trinity senior Jasper Burd finish sixth at the state meet with an impressive 17:07 time on a course that begins with several steep climbs around an old quarry adjacent to Hersheypark. His time, along with that of his brother, Isaac, a freshman, helped lead the Shamrocks to a fourth-place team finish.
At the District 3 meet a week earlier, Burd easily won the individual race with a stellar time of 16:46, which was more than a half minute faster than York Catholic’s Moseley Driscoll, who won the silver medal on the 3.1-mile course that saw several runners take a spill in the slick mud. Both runners averaged miles under 5:30 to lead the field.
Trinity placed 4 runners in the top 12 for a team score of 40 to edge Tulpehocken by a single point to capture the District 3 championship.
After the race, a mud-splattered Jasper Burd reflected on his performance and the team’s feat. “It was so great to do this as a team,” he said. “We are all best friends and I could see it on all of our runners’ faces that they gave everything they had today… I knew I had this race won today, but it was difficult as the ground was like running in sand with how muddy it was.”
“I really credit my mom for getting me here and supporting me. She is the reason that I run. She is the reason I won,” he said.
(Photos by Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness.)
By Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness
