Squad’s running downhill
City team taking state by storm
For years, cross country in the inner city has been either obsolete or struggling to hold on. There had been elite runners — Ruben Sanca, Said Ahmed, Ahmed Ali and Abidrizak Mohamed — but at the state level, such harriers were practically nonexistent.
During the indoor and outdoor track seasons three years ago, South Boston assistant coach Hatim Jean-Louis found himself “cringing on the sidelines” as he carefully watched talented, but vastly undertrained, males failing to break the 13-minute mark in the 2-mile. Frustrated, but with a thorough knowledge of Boston’s running past, Jean-Louis was confident the inner city had talent in the distance events even if it wasn’t showing up in the results.
The coach knew it was time to act, but what Jean-Louis didn’t know was that his next move would change the landscape of distance running within the city limits and get athletes excited about their potential.
“The perception had to change because there has always been talent in Boston,” said Jean-Louis. “These student-athletes deserve all the accolades because they have changed the narrative and perception in four years, and I believe this is only the beginning.”
The former Randolph High standout set up a meeting with Boston Public Schools athletic director Avery Esdaile and made his argument to resurrect cross country as a fall sport. Esdaile agreed, and the Boston City Wide cross country team was formed in 2015. Like most teams in their infant stages, it struggled, finishing 19th in last fall’s Div. 3 EMass championships.
Jean-Louis was far from deterred. He stuck to his training philosophy, bringing his athletes along slowly and consistently. The harriers bought into the plan, established a base of distance work and continued improving along the way.
For the first time in decades, there was excitement about cross country in Boston. And this season, Boston City Wide has been the talk of Massachusetts.
At a hot and humid Martha’s Vineyard Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 9, freshman Gemsley Cajuste’s 25th-place performance (17:32) over the 3.1-mile course led the team to a solid second place in the 16-team field. After beating perennially strong Marshfield in a scrimmage meet at Franklin Park, Boston ran away with the championship at last Saturday’s Big Wave Cross Country Invitational at Apponequet.
Senior co-captain Victor Baez led Boston with a splendid fifthplace finish (13:33) on Apponequet’s grassy 2.5-mile layout, but even more impressive were the finishes behind him. Cajuste was ninth, with Adnan Abdi Rahman, Johan Sepulveda, co-captain Douglas Alvarado and Joshua Joseph all placing in the top 20. Boston’s top six finishers were within a scant 36 seconds of each other, making the team easy winners (49) ahead of Marshfield (63).
Alvarado takes his title as cocaptain very seriously and he wants to serve as a role model for the younger harriers.
“It means a lot to me,” said Alvarado, a 4:49 miler on the track. “I remember freshman year, the captain was Sean Dykens. He took me under his wing and taught me everything he knew about running and life. I looked up to him and consider him pretty much a brother.”
Baez, too, knows the influence a positive captain can have on younger runners still finding their way.
“We can be role models for (the younger kids) and show them how to do things the right way and give them lots of advice from personal experience,” said the 2:04 800-meter trackster.
Girls’ captain Sarah Lawton is accomplished both indoors and out for Fenway/Snowden, and has put up strong times of 1:43.52 in the 600 and 2:27.52 at 800 meters. As a sophomore, she ran an impressive 5:43 mile. She ran well against Marshfield and is improving steadily with each workout.
“I’m having a pretty good season,” said the multi Boston City League All-Star.
Jean-Louis is cautiously optimistic that his squad will continue to grow with every race.
“It’s very early in the season, but I’m grateful and always inspired to see the student-athletes get the benefit from hard work,” he said. “Two huge races help to reassure the commitment of the group and the focus.”
The team will compete at the Frank Kelley and Bay State Invitationals, after which Jean-Louis plans on upping the intensity of workouts. The ultimate goal is qualifying for All-States with a top-four finish at the EMass championships on Nov. 10 at Wrentham.
While attainable, it’s a lofty goal, and there are a lot of teams that need to be knocked off to make it to Northfield Mountain for All-States on Nov. 17. Jean-Louis believes defending champion Wakefield is once again the favorite, plus a slew of quality competition possibly coming from Hingham, Sharon, Walpole, Burlington, Marblehead and Bishop Feehan.
But all their work almost assures a reward.
“We came in 19th last year,” said Jean-Louis. “Everyone beat us.”
‘The perception had to change because there has always been talent in Boston. . . . I believe this is only the beginning.’
— HATIM JEAN-LOUIS, Boston City Wide cross country coach