The boys' cross-country teams opened their season on a beautiful fall afternoon with decisive wins over Belmont Hill, St. George's, Lawrence Academy, and Tabor.

 
As we had expected, Viraj Deokar '16, the current Globe All-Scholastic runner for the ISL, cruised to an easy victory over his opponents, crossing the line more than 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.  Although a couple of Tabor runners made a good showing thereafter, along with a new runner from Belmont Hill, the emergence of five Middlesex stalwarts in a row thereafter – Lucas Estrada '15, Gavin Fujimori '16, Miles Petrie '15, Will Fletcher '16, and Gabe Smith '15 – dashed any hopes for a Tabor or Belmont Hill victory that those earlier arrivals might have inspired.

  
Particularly notable in this race was the performance of Gabe Smith, new to the team this year.  Gabe finished just a few seconds behind All-New England runner Will Fletcher, adding welcome depth to the Middlesex attack.

The JV team also distinguished itself, taking the first three places in that race and thereby guaranteeing victories against all contenders.  Matt Kafker '15, won the race (also setting a new personal best of 19:20 on the course), but Matt McKenna '15 and Rock Hoffman '16 kept Kafker in sight, shutting the door against runners from St. George's, Tabor, and Belmont Hill who tried to break up the Middlesex trio.

An encouraging surprise was the strong performance by new team member Ryan Ewing '17.  Ryan took the fourth spot in the Middlesex array (8^th) in the race, allowing only four opposing runners to finish ahead of him.  The return of the injured Jack Yoon '16, added to the solid support provided by Dan Kramer '17, should make the JV team a formidable competitor throughout the rest of the season.