Folks in the NYS/NYC/Tri-State area, please save the date: on Saturday, Oct 11, Coach Aris will be inducted into the Van Cortlandt Park XC Hall of Fame! The induction will be at 12:15pm, just before the Eastern State Championship races.

We're planning an informal lunch for anyone who attends the induction. If you can make it, please reply via email so I can keep you in the loop.

📷 Photos/memories from the Broadfield course?

We’re approaching the thirtieth anniversary of the short-lived home course on Broadfield Road. I think it only lasted one season, and it’s easily overshadowed by the home course that followed it, but it has its own lore that deserves to be told.

I want to write a little story about the course, crowdsourcing memories from other alumni. If you have memories/photos you can share, please reply to this email! I’d be delighted just to get an email from you and/or chat briefly by phone. Classes of 96/97/98, I’m looking at you!

🏅 Belated kudos to recent alumni

Belated kudos to everyone who competed in the 2024/2025 XC + TF seasons, especially our newest batch of alumni. If you know any who might like to subscribe to this newsletter, please share it with them!

✌️Until next time…

And there will be a next time! This newsletter went on the backburner when I started a new job and moved to Brooklyn last year, but I fully intend on keeping it going. If you’re in the NYC area, drop me a note!

Dan Duett
FM ‘01

• Track recap

• Mini-reunion at Utica Boilermaker

• FM Area Youth Running Group

• How you can help

• Stay connected

⏱️ Track recap

In March, FM sent three athletes to indoor states: junior Izzie Sullivan and seniors Maria Khalifeh and Nolan McGinn. Khalifeh competed in the 1000m while Sullivan and McGinn both ran the distance double: 1600m/3200m for McGinn and 1500m/3000m for Sullivan.

In June, Sullivan and McGinn returned to outdoor states (hosted by Cicero North Syracuse), along with sophomore Nick Domashenko, who competed in the 100m dash (11.14). McGinn again ran the distance double, narrowly missing a PR in the 3200m (9:14.46) and finishing fifth in the 1600m (4:15.94). Not to be out-podiumed, Izzie Sullivan finished fifth in the 3000m (9:44.31), decisively bouncing back from a challenging fall season.

Cheers to the entire team and best wishes to recent graduates!

🍻 Mini-reunion at Utica Boilermaker

We’ll have at least a few alumni running at the Utica Boilermaker on July 14, with a few more expected to join the post-race festivities and a mini-reunion photo. If you’re in the area, come join in the fun! Reply to this email for details.

🏅 FM Area Youth Running Group

Last summer, John Aris (’98) started a youth running group for grades four through eight, free and open to all young aspiring athletes (and family members) looking to improve their general fitness. The group meets every week and has grown to a couple dozen folks. Learn more via their Facebook group.

⭐️ How you can help

Want to help the alumni list grow? Here’s how you can earn a gold star:

• Forward this email to other XC/TF alumni, especially folks who graduated in the last 20 years. We have more subscribers who graduated in 1998 than we do from all class years 2004 to present. Let’s cross the 100-subscriber mark and get more recent alumni on board!

• Send me team-related photos to include in future newsletters. Any team-related photo (past, present, athletic, social) would be welcome and appreciated.

• Contribute to the next newsletter. Stories, alumni news, program news, etc.

📱 Stay connected

• Tracking your fitness on Strava? Join the FM XC/T&F club!

• Join the FM XC/T&F Alumni group on Facebook. It’s a great place for sharing photos, memories, and personal updates.

• Follow @fmxctf on Instagram. Want to share photos and/or help get it off the ground? Respond to this email.

Until next time… Stay cool out there, folks!

• Fall season recap

• Alumni survey (please respond)

• Upcoming events

• Photos!

• How you can help

• Stay connected

Fall season recap

Another cross country season in the books! Some highlights:

• The girls team racked up a number of wins, including every dual meet, the McQuaid Invite, the league championship, and sectionals (their 18th consecutive sectionals win). They had a tough race at states and decided to call it a season, refocusing on building base for track.

• The boys team finished seventh at sectionals, led by senior and individual winner Nolan McGinn, who had an extraordinary season. He was undefeated in New York, winning Nike Cross Regionals for NYS and earning a spot at Nike Cross Nationals (“NXN”). At NXN, he went out very fast, leading through the first kilometer before fading and finishing 74th. Expect big things from him in the upcoming track seasons and beyond—he’ll head to University of Pittsburgh next fall.

Most readers will be surprised to learn how small the teams were this season: nine boys and eight girls, total. Naturally, Coach Aris has some ideas on how to help more kids find their way to the program.

To help build early interest in running within the FM community, John Aris (’98) started a youth running group for grades four through eight, free and open to all young aspiring athletes looking to improve their running fitness. Learn more via their Facebook group. Kudos and best wishes to John and all the kids/families involved!

Alumni survey (please respond)

Help me gauge interest in an alumni gathering by filling out a one-minute survey. Your response will be helpful even if you’re not likely to attend, though I sincerely hope you will! 🙂

Upcoming events

The indoor track season is already underway! Here are a few opportunities to cheer on the team and connect with other alumni:

• Feb 6 – Section III Championships at Onondaga Community College

• Feb 14 – State Qualifiers at Onondaga Community College

• Mar 2 – NYSPHSAA State Championships in Staten Island, NY

• Mar 8-10 – Nike Indoor Nationals in New York City

Anyone want to meet up at one of these iconic CNY road races? Running optional!

• May 5 – Mountain Goat Run in Syracuse, NY. 10-mile and 2-person relay options

• Jul 14 – Boilermaker in Utica, NY.  15k + 5k options

Photos!

This month’s photos are courtesy of John Heron (‘06), seen below with other founding Stotans during the 2004 and 2005 seasons:

John Heron now coaches a high school team in the Jacksonville area. Kudos to yet another John paying it forward and helping the next generation of runners—that’s two in one newsletter!

How you can help

This newsletter (and our growing alumni community) are just getting started. I need your help!

• Spread the word! Forward this email to other alumni. Encourage them to subscribe and forward it to other alumni who might not know about it yet—especially folks who graduated within the last 15 years.

• Share photos! Send me team-related photos for the @fmxctf Instagram account and/or future newsletters. If you’re an Instagram enthusiast and want to help run the account, I could really use your help.

• Contribute to the next newsletter. Stories, alumni news, program news, etc.

• Help organize an alumni gathering in 2024. This is the year, y’all. If you can help plan, host, or rally, I want to hear from you!

⠀If you’re interested in any of the above, reply to this email!

Stay connected

• Tracking your fitness on Strava? Join the FM XC/T&F club!

• Join the FM XC/T&F Alumni group on Facebook. It’s a great place for sharing photos, memories, and personal updates.

• Follow @fmxctf on Instagram. Want to share photos and/or help get it off the ground? Email me!

Until next time

That’s it for our second issue—thank you for reading and hope to see you at an alumni gathering sometime in 2024!

Dan Duett
FM ‘01

• Wait but why?

• Upcoming events

• Staying connected

• How you can help

• Recipes and baking tips

Wait but why?

The idea for a newsletter started last October, when the 1997 boys team was inducted into the FM Athletics Hall of Fame.

John Aris and Adam Wasileski organized a great reunion weekend and everyone who attended helped make it memorable. Special recognition goes to Paul Batten for wearing (and fitting into) his original FM singlet:

I went home the next day feeling immensely grateful, moderately hung over, and convinced of two things:

1. We should do more of these get-togethers.

2. An email list would make getting together and staying connected a lot easier.

So here we are: an email list including Bill, Jerry, and over 70 alumni from the boys and girls XC teams, mostly from class years 1998 through 2002.

Within those years, we’ve got about 60% of the boys team and 40% of the girls team—good rates given that they’re based on full team rosters (not just the top folks).

Outside those years, we don’t have hardly anyone—yet! If you keep in touch with XC/TF alumni who graduated before ’98 or after ’02 and might want to be part of this, please forward this email to them!

The newsletter is for all alumni of the XC and T&F programs. I’m starting with XC because the smaller team sizes make it easier to build a critical mass, but it won’t be nearly as fun without the full T&F family.

Upcoming events in CNY

Anyone going or want to go to one of these events? Let me know!

• Oct - Alex Hatz (‘10) will be inducted into the FM Athletics Hall of Fame! Alex won several national and state titles while in high school, and he still holds the NYS record for the 1600m, modern super-spikes be damned. The ceremony hasn’t been scheduled, but it’s usually held the first Saturday in October.

• Oct 15 - The Great New York State Marathon at Onondaga Lake Park, which includes a 5k, 10k, and half marathon. There’s at least one alum who’s registered!

• Nov 4 - Section III Championship, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill (near Utica)

• Nov 11 - NYSPHSAA Championship, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill

• Jul 14 - Boilermaker 15k and 5k in Utica, NY. Save the date! This is a great opportunity for a mini-reunion. Open registration starts in February.

Stay connected

Stay connected on social media:

• Tracking your fitness on Strava? Join the FM XC/T&F club!

• Join the FM XC/T&F Alumni group on Facebook. It’s a great place for sharing photos, memories, and personal updates.

• Follow @fmxctf on Instagram. This is a brand new account; anyone want to help get it off the ground?

How you can help

Yes, you!

• Spread the word. Forward this email to folks who graduated before ‘98 or after ‘02. Tell them to subscribe and forward it to other alumni.

• Help with the Instagram account. Send me team-related photos (past or present) to help get the Instagram account off the ground. If you want to be involved in an even bigger way, let’s chat.

• Contribute to the next newsletter. Photos, stories, alumni news, program news, etc. No idea is a bad idea—except for Lonnie’s idea for a crossword puzzle.

• Be a class ambassador. I was able to get in touch with most of the folks who were on the team when I was, but we need folks from other years to rally the wider group. No minimum time commitment; you just need to know people.

If you’re interested in any of the above, reply to this email!

Until next time…

That’s it for this newsletter. I hope to send something two to four times a year, as well as organize in-person gatherings every year or so. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

Dan Duett
FM '01

PS - Special thanks to Lonnie Threatte (‘98) for sharing photos, co-writing this issue, and letting me eat lunch on the seniors ledge when I was a freshman.