The Boys' Cross-Country team closed out its regular season of races with decisive wins (numbering 14-17) over teams from Roxbury Latin, Rivers School, Milton Academy, and Dexter on the damp – but still speedy – course at Elm Bank Reservation in Wellesley.  Rivers hosted the meet…but Middlesex feasted.
 
One highlight was the head-to-head race between Middlesex standout Viraj Deakar '16 and Roxbury Latin front-runner Joey Mullen.  Both boys rose to the challenge, but Viraj had a lot more to give.  Passing the mile mark at 4:46, Viraj had gained a lead that he would not relinquish for the rest of the race, even though Mullen made a good effort to close the gap in the third mile.  The results, however, tell the story: Viraj crossed the finish line at 15:32, shattering the previous record (held by Mullen himself) of 16:07.  Joey also had an excellent race, no doubt inspired by competition from such a formidable foe as Viraj, with a finishing time of 15:47.
 
Yet another interesting match-up was that between Lucas Estrada '15 and Milton Academy's Connor James.  Rivals from track season last spring, each boy had the other in his sights.  Lucas, however, made it clear from the start that he had come to work: keeping pace with Mullen for two miles, Lucas opened a lead on James that the latter could not close.  Lucas finished comfortably in 16:18, twenty seconds ahead of his rival.
 
The rest of the varsity story is a tale of three runners – Gavin Fujimori '16, Miles Petrie '15, and Will Fletcher '16.  Not only did these boys secure a Middlesex victory against all competitors (MX now had places 1,3,5,6,7 in a race with 83 runners), they did so with winning times that rivaled their best performances ever in a Middlesex uniform. 
 
All five runners now have the right to consider themselves among the elite competitors in the ISL.
 
In the absence of Gabe Smith '15 (still nursing some sore shins), Matt Kafker '15 stepped up to a varsity spot and finished with the impressive time of 18:26.  Matt McKenna '15 was right on Kafker's heels, both of them shutting down the 3^rd Rivers varsity runner and the 7^th from Milton.  Though the JVs fell to RL, lacking as they did the services of their two front runners, who had moved up to varsity, they nevertheless took the trophy against Milton, Rivers, and Dexter.