Barrington boys cross country team boasts plenty of talent

Brian Donahue and Jamie Gunness will captain Eagles

Posted 9/12/18

All summer long, the Barrington High School boys cross country team trained. 

Six days a week, the boys met at the high school at 7 a.m. and set out on training runs. Some days eight or …

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Barrington boys cross country team boasts plenty of talent

Brian Donahue and Jamie Gunness will captain Eagles

Posted

All summer long, the Barrington High School boys cross country team trained. 

Six days a week, the boys met at the high school at 7 a.m. and set out on training runs. Some days eight or nine boys would attend the practice. Other days there would 12, maybe even 13. 

The commitment impressed the team's coach, Mike Katz.

"I would visit them, but it was basically a captain's practice," said Mr. Katz, who has been coaching the Eagles since 2001. "They were so motivated."

Mr. Katz said that motivation could pay big dividends this season. The coach said the Eagles' top four runners are very strong, and their times from the Martha's Vineyard Cross Country Invitational on Saturday support that claim. Barrington had three runners finish in the top 12 spots — Brendan Fay was fourth, Jamie Gunness was 10th, and Brian Donahue was 12th. Meanwhile, freshman runner Holden Vaughan cruised to victory in the freshman race on Martha's Vineyard.

Mr. Katz said Brian Donahue and Jamie Gunness are the team captains this year, and Brendan Fay is likely the team's top runner right now. Holden Vaughan has also impressed Mr. Katz.

"I think he could win the freshman state championship this year, but there's a long way to go before that," said the coach. 

Mr. Katz said there are a number of other runners who will help the Eagles this fall. Junior C.J. Hilty is Barrington number five runner, and senior Sam Wohlever is "another solid runner." Mr. Katz said he also expects strong performances from junior Kaden Voeller and senior Calvin Hennessey.

In addition, Barrington boasts some talented freshman runners who recently joined the team. 

Mr. Katz said there had been a few students who ran well for the middle school cross country and track teams, but they transferred to private schools and will not be competing for Barrington. Mr. Katz said he has grown accustomed to seeing a few Barrington boys compete for private school teams when they reach high school age. He said he often uses that dynamic as motivation for his team, and sometimes his runners joke about it.

"I've had runners in the past — because I joke around a lot — they'll turn around and say to, 'You know coach, LaSalle's been talking to me,'" he said. 

Barrington was slated to open its dual meet schedule on Tuesday against St. Raphael's Academy and Tiverton High School. Next week, the Eagles will run against two more tough teams in LaSalle and Wheeler.

"It's a good way to start off the season. The next week is going to be competitive," Mr. Katz said.

Eagles finish fifth in Martha's Vineyard

The Barrington High School boys cross country team ran to a fifth place finish at the 11th annual Martha's Vineyard Cross Country Invitational on Saturday. Brendan Fay led the Eagles in the varsity race, finishing fourth overall with a time of 16:39.87. Jamie Gunness finished 10th, with a time of 17:02.57, and Brian Donahue was 12th, finishing about four seconds later. Sam Wohlever crossed the line in 55th place and Kaden Voeller finished 63rd. Calvin Hennessey was 81st overall. In the freshman race, Barrington's Holden Vaughan won, while Hunter Maher and Scott Supolsky finished in 12th and 13th places, respectively. Caleb Schultz crossed the line in 30th place. 

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