The Jesuit High School men’s cross country team is coming off of a loaded year and ready to climb the national rankings once again in cross country.
The men’s cross country team graduated three of their four best runners, so coming into the year it was a big opportunity for some younger guys to step up.
Five meets into the year, head coach Tom Rothenbergerhas been impressed with some of the young talent that has stepped up and performed through their meets. Jesuit’s first meet of the season was on September 9 at the Ash Creek Invitational, where six Jesuit runners finished in the top ten including two in the top five and senior Caden Swanson placing first in the race.
The second meet of the season was a dual meet hosted by Mountainside High School which was also a very successful meet for the men’s team.
“Ash Creek gave us that sense as to where we are to start with and our dual meet was just what it was, it was a good workout, and a chance for our JV kids to learn”, Rothenberger said.
Some of the bright young runners that Rothenberger described as standouts included sophomore Brayden Fletcher, and sophomore Jackson Welsh.
Fletcher was a runner who in the first meet of the season impressed early, running a personal record of 15:50, beating his old personal record by forty seconds. Welsh is in his first year running cross country and placed in the top ten in the Ash Creek Invitational.
“Our boys [national] rankings preseason were 21st, but they didn’t know about those new guys.”
During the pandemic, the cross country program came up with the phrase WWBR, which stood for we will be ready.
“All the way through the pandemic our motto was we’re gonna do the work so when we get a chance, we’re gonna be ready to go.”
That proved to be the case when the 2020 men’s cross country team placed third at a national championship in the middle of the pandemic in Alabama. The motto has stuck over the past three years throughout the program.
One meet the Jesuit program is looking forward to is the Nike Hole In The Wall XC Invitational.
“It’s probably our go to kind of race to prepare us for the state meet,” Rothenberger said.
