The Boars receive a pep talk from Assistant Coach William Nowak.
For the first time since 2010, ten prep school teams arrived on the Choate cross country course for the annual Founders League Cross Country Championships. The Wild Boars’ energy before the race was unparalleled, since every runner expects to do exceptionally well on their home course and Founders is an important race.
The previous race record for Choate Boys’ Cross Country, a time of 16:33 on the school’s five-kilometer course, was set by Bo Peard ’11 in October 2010. The record stood for over six years until it was broken by Griffin Birney ’18 on November 5, with a time of 16:29.
Birney had an incredible performance, reaching the halfway point of the race within a group of five other runners, including fellow Choate runner Joe Berrafati ’17. As Birney neared the home stretch, several team members looked at the clock and realized he was about to break the record. Birney sat down with Daniel Brockett ’19 to discuss his performance.
Daniel Brockett ’19: What was your goal going into that Founders League race?
Griffin Birney ’18: I wanted to beat the second runner on Loomis, which would have solidified our points and gave us a better chance to win.
DB: Did your goal change over the course of the race? Did you realize you had an opportunity to break the record?
GB: No, the goal never changed. When I crossed the finish line, somebody walked up to me and said, “Congrats, you did it!” I had no idea what they were talking about. I was just focused on running my own race and doing my best, so time was not on my mind.
DB: Was this your goal coming into the season?
GB: No. My goal was to break the junior record, which was 17:01, run by Riley O’Connell ‘14. In fact, I always thought of the guys atop the Choate leaderboard as untouchable, so it is weird to be among them. They are the legends of Choate cross country. So I was surprised when I discovered that I had run the fastest time on the course for a Choate runner.
Hopefully, this is just the beginning of Birney’s prosperous cross country career. Choate has a new legend looming over its leaderboard.
