Like everything else in 2020, the 2020 DMHS Cross-Country Team was affected by the COVID-19 virus. The competitive season started at the end of September with 16 members, however, training began remotely in the summer under the direction of Head Coach Lisa Oden and Coach Rachel Williams. Head Coach Oden issued training running logs so athletes could continue to condition in their own neighborhood parks. Both Head Coach Oden and Coach Rachel Williams have many years of experience coaching Cross Country and Spring Track.

“The 2020 DMHS Cross-Country season certainly endured many obstacles before the season even got started.  With what would have been our normal summer session workouts at the school, students participated in weekly remote practice sessions,” Coach Oden said. “Once we were given the okay from the NJSIAA, the athletes made up the time lost conditioning at practices,” she added.

Another impact of the coronavirus on the Cross-Country Team was that groups were separated at the meets. Instead of having the typical races of up to 150 runners in each heat, the athletes were restricted to PODS, mandatory line-ups, and underwent temperature checks before games and practices, and for bus arrival and departure times.

“I would say all of our athletes adjusted quite well to the newly enforced rules and regulations imposed upon them in just a short period of time,” Coach Oden said.

Cross-Country Team members felt fortunate to have dedicated coaches and the chance to compete.

“These precautions are necessary, but I’m just glad we were able to have our season at all,” said junior June-Soe who has been on the team for two years.

And despite the restrictions, the coaches saw all team members improve individual meet times over the season.

“The Freshman boys and girls really stood out this season, bringing home both silver and bronze medals after almost all of their meets, or improving on their times at least by 30 seconds to 3 minutes,” Coach Oden said.  “Freshman Salome Lokesh, Emily Bankowski, Ryan Chen and Layla Sampson let nothing prevent them from winning silver and bronze medals. It was impressive,” she added.

Athletic Director Joseph Armental believes this season was a good recovery year and way to build up the team better and stronger for next year.

“I am truly proud of the Cross-Country Team this year. Runners have done an amazing job working virtually over the summer on their individual weaknesses to improve their running and make a stronger team,” Mr. Armental said. “Our senior captains, Katie Sudol and Arianne Garcia, have provided tremendous leadership during this unique season. There are more 9th graders this year than we have had in the past and that really sets us up for future success,” he added.

With this new talent on the team, players are excited for the next season.

“I look forward to seeing how the freshmen will run the longer distance as they make up a huge chunk of our team this year,” June-Soe noted.

The team will compete November 3, 2020, in the BNC League Championship Meet and November 5, 2020, at the Doc Braver Freshmen/JV meet.

“I’ve been Coaching for quite some time now, and to say the least, this 2020 season has been an interesting one in terms of preparedness and the structuring of the meets.  I know for sure that everyone involved in organizing these meets just wanted the athletes to be able to participate in some capacity for their Cross-Country season, rather than canceling the season out entirely,” Coach Oden concluded.