Six total team first place finishes, a district championship, a fourth place finish at regionals, and a thirteenth place finish at states, our most successful cross country season; the, arguably, most successful sports season in MIA history was full of determination, hard work, and perseverance through adversity.

They finished the 2018 season on a more anticlimactic note, as they finished in sixth place at regionals, but did not qualify for states, so they had motivation for this season. They were determined that the 2019 season would be the best one yet. 

The cross country team coming into this season had lost two seniors, but gained two sophomores and one freshman. The other six runners on the team consisted of two seniors, who were the captains, two juniors, and two sophomores, all returning from prior years of running. This brought the team’s total to nine runners.

Senior runner Camden Jones has run all four years, and has been a reliable presence on the team. His work ethic, leadership qualities, and ability to give everything he had for the team are some of the most admirable traits about him. He took on his captain role with pride and gratitude, and output one of the most consistent seasons of MIA’s history. He was the second best runner for the whole season, and set a season record at the regional meet.

Senior runner Damien Tschida has also run all four years. He demonstrated one of the biggest improvements of the season. After starting the season with a time of 20 minutes and 20 seconds, he dropped over a minute and forty seconds over the course of the season. His perseverance, willingness to work, and consistent presence at practices was able to propel him to this great season. He alternated as the fourth or fifth best runner on the varsity team.

The 2019 boys cross country team are the first team in MIA history to qualify for states. MIA has had multiple solo appearances in state competitions, but never had a team qualify. But in one of the most dominating sports seasons seen in school history, the MIA boys cross country team had the only team state appearance in school history.

The boy’s varsity team had a total of seven runners. These consisted of Kevin Barry, Camden Jones, Johnathan Watt, Tony Castillo, Damien Tschida, Nick Smithem, and Kaleb Chamberlin. Coached by head coach Bruce Kretchmer, it was these seven who ran at states. 

Their path to states consisted of 5 regular season meet first place finishes, 1 district meet first place finish, a fourth place finish at regionals, and finally leading to a thirteenth place finish at states.

The end of the year awards given this year were the Most Valuable Player (MVP), Most Improved Player (MIP), Comeback Player, and Leadership award. 

The MVP was Kevin Barry, the consistent top runner of the team. He finished first for MIA runners in 12 of the 13 meets, and got a top finishers medal in 11 meets. Last season he was limited to just 3 meets because of a stress fracture in his foot, but this season he came out and dominated.

The MIP award went to Tony Castillo, who had a personal award or medal in 5 of the 13 meets. He had a personal record last season of 20:57, and his first meet of the season, he ran a time 20 minutes and 3 seconds. He worked throughout the season to drop that time, and by the district meet, he was ready to show out. He ran a time of 18:56, 1 minute and 7 seconds lower than his time at the beginning of the season. Then, he ran an 18:29 at districts, improving upon his previous time even more. Finally, he ran a time of 18:28 at states, a personal and season best, and a 1 minute and 28 seconds improvement on the season.

The Comeback Player award went to Johnathan Watt, last season’s top runner. He has a personal record of 17:28, which he ran in his sophomore year. Johnathan had been the top runner since his freshman year, but he was unfortunately struck with illness in the summer. There were questions about his ability to compete, and they were not even sure that he would be able to run anymore. His first meet, he ran a 20:20, 2 minutes and 52 seconds slower than his personal best, and was the 5th runner. He continued to work throughout the season, and was able to continue to improve to become a consistent 3rd runner, and ran a time of 17:52 at states. 2 minutes and 28 seconds faster than his first time of the season, but still 24 seconds slower than his personal record. Despite this, he had an incredible comeback season.

The Leadership award went to Camden Jones, a captain. He never missed a practice or meet, and even when he had to work, he still came to practice early and got the full workout in. He really led by example and was able to get everyone to buy into the season. He helped us by continually pushing us and challenging us to do our best, all the while still keeping the season fun, and being a great presence on the team.