Annalise Grammel’20 surges across finish line. (Courtesy/Heather Hartley)

Academy’s 2018 boys and girls cross country team kicked off its season at the much anticipated annual Newark Catholic Invitational. 

After weeks of preparation, the boys team set its sights on conquering the dreaded hill on the Bryn Du Mansion course, and they did just that. The boys netted a third place victory out of 21 teams, thanks to senior Liam McCann and sophomore Luke Nester leading the pack and placing 7th and 8th, respectively.

As for the girls squad, junior Annalise Grammel overtook the lead runner from Fairfield Union in an exhilarating final second to win the overall individual race by two tenths of a second, bringing the Vikes to a sixth place finish. Sophomore Regan Cornelius also ran well, taking fourth out of 154 varsity runners.

After such an exciting start to the season, the team travelled to senator and gubernatorial candidate Mike DeWine’s farm to compete against Cincinnati Summit Country Day at the DeWine Farm Invitational on Saturday, September 1. 

The boys team took the victory with McCann and Nester taking first and second place. Charlie Sabgir’20, Abhi Ramesh’19 and Alex O’Connor’20 rounded out the team’s times for the day, placing 5th, 6th, and 8th, respectively.

The girls also nabbed a win with first, second, and third places coming from Grammel, Cornelius, and Maddie Tuckerman’19, respectively.

The team looks ahead in the coming week to the McGowan Invitational at Watkins Memorial High School on Saturday, September 8.