Season’s greetings and welcome to the second edition of the FM XC/TF alumni newsletter! I hope you’re enjoying the final lap of 2023 and/or getting excited about 2024. Here’s what you’ll find in this issue:
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