Conard senior Gavin Sherry in the hunt for a national title

Conard senior Gavin Sherry knows the key to success in Saturday’s Eastbay National Cross Country championship race in San Diego is to get out in front early.

“Essentially everybody there is used to being in the top pack,” Sherry said Thursday. “Everybody is going to try to be in the top pack and the first 800 [meters] is going to be around the two-mile pace or maybe even faster.

“It’s kind of ridiculous but you have to get out at that speed in order to be competitive in the race. I remember sophomore year I felt like I had been getting out pretty fast in my races and I was pretty confident and then I stepped on the line at [the national championship] and the gun went off and I was instantaneously in 40th [place].”

Sherry, who recently won the Class L cross country championship, the State Open and the New England cross country championship, won the Eastbay (formerly Foot Locker) Northeast cross country championship at Van Cortlandt Park in New York in the same manner, bolting out to the front and holding on. He finished the 5,000meter course in 15:05.8, breaking Donn Cabral’s 2007 meet record (15:09).

Sherry leads a contingent of four Connecticut runners for Saturday’s race, which starts at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET). Manchester senior Aidan Puffer (sixth at Northeast regionals in 15:26.6), East Lyme’s Luke Anthony (eighth, 15:28.3) and Newington’s Michael Bohlke finished (10th, 15:36.7) will also compete.

Sherry finished 14th in the national race (15:36.8)

in 2019 and was the fastest sophomore that year. The race was not held last year due to COVID-19.

“I’m super excited to be here,” he said. “Not having it last year was really tough. The vibe here is tense but super exciting. I think I’m ready. I’m in a good spot with how my past few races have gone. I feel like I’m peaking at the right time for this race.”

Only three Connecticut high school runners — all girls — have won national titles since the race started in 1979. Greenwich’s Ceci Hopp won in 1980, Waterford’s Liz Mueller won in 1991and Sydney Masciarelli, who lived in Northbridge, Massachusetts but was a sophomore at Marianapolis Prep in Thompson at the time, won in 2018.

For more information and to watch the race Saturday, go to: https:// eastbayxc.com/.