GATES MILLS, OH—Years ago, Western Reserve Academy's boys cross country program's junior varsity team was a solely developmental team—a place for young runners to build mileage and await their eventual moment under the varsity spotlight. Today, the school's JV squad demonstrated that they are a powerhouse all on their own. Putting up a faster, deeper, and far more aggressive collective performance than the school's entire 2021 varsity lineup, this group proved that WRA's depth is no longer just a supporting cast, but a force capable of going toe-to-toe with some of the best programs in the region.
The Western Reserve Academy boys cross country team battled through cool, overcast, and muddy conditions at the Paul Primeau Invitational on Friday afternoon. Competing in a dedicated JV meet hosted at Gilmour Academy, the Pioneers finished 9th overall in a competitive 12-team field with 254 team points, pacing ahead of several regional foes.
Leading the charge for WRA was junior Arav Mathur '28, who clocked an impressive 19:20.80 to capture 27th place overall and beat his personal record by almost 20 seconds. Fighting to match Mathur's aggressive pace, Ronan Flower '28 followed close behind, securing 30th place in 19:28.50. This finish beat Flower's personal record by over 30 seconds, finally pushing him under the 20-minute threshold he had been working hard to break since his freshman year. Together, Mathur and Flower formed a formidable 1-2 punch at the front of the Reserve pack.
The freshman pairing of Garrett Shilling '30 and Jack Harris '30 provided crucial support in the middle of the lineup. Shilling crossed the finish line with a time of 21:24.20, while Harris finished just ten seconds back at 21:34.50. Shilling and Harris had both set a PR every race of the season so far, and they did the very same in Friday's race. Senior Wen Xiao '27 closed out WRA's top five scoring runners, executing a smart, measured race strategy to stop the clock in 21:47.80—a new PR for Xiao.
Freshman Paul Yu '30 (22:28.80) and Mike Huang '30 (23:36.80) worked together through the course's challenging back turns to push back competing runners and top their previous personal records by several seconds.
Additional Pioneer finishers continued to push their limits across the board: in their first races of the season, junior Harry Xu '28 crossed in 23:49.50, followed by freshman Curtis Kang '30 in 23:47.00. Finally, the team effort was rounded out by Micah Maze-Ingram '30 in 24:54.80, sophomore Peter Qin '29 in 25:01.80, and sophomore Nick Ross '29 in 27:47.70, each setting a PR for himself.
The runners returned with legs smeared in mud and smiles on their faces, as every runner crossed the finish line content with the clock's verdict. Gilmour not only provided the team the opportunity to prove their talent to themselves, but also to prove their strength as a junior varsity squad. With a JV team putting up scores as impressive as the varsity teams of 2021 and 2022, there is a bright future for the WRA boys XC program.
Full results here: https://gopherarun.com/results/live/10226bjv.html
Note: Generative AI helped to draft this story. It was revised, reviewed and edited by the Boys' XC coaching staff.
