Clear to partly cloudy. Low 53F. Winds light and variable..

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 53F. Winds light and variable.

Seniors (from left) Christian Emig, Jonathan MacQuarrie, Drew Bartram, Dawson Romito, and Ronan Keenan help make up the backbone of the Masconomet boys cross country team.

From left, Masconomet seniors Ronan Keenan, Dawson Romito, Drew Bartram, Christian Emig, and Jonathan MacQuarrie are eager for the cross country season to begin later this month against Beverly.

Seniors (from left) Christian Emig, Jonathan MacQuarrie, Drew Bartram, Dawson Romito, and Ronan Keenan help make up the backbone of the Masconomet boys cross country team.

From left, Masconomet seniors Ronan Keenan, Dawson Romito, Drew Bartram, Christian Emig, and Jonathan MacQuarrie are eager for the cross country season to begin later this month against Beverly.

Cross country coaches often say that however successful their team might be during the season depend on how much work their squad put in over the summer. Training on their own, take part in captain’s practices and going to camp all factor into this.

In this regard, the Masconomet boys cross country program are ready to go this fall after several of their runners spent time together at Granite State Running Camp in Wilmot, N.H. last month. The Chieftains have been going to the camp for the past nine years, and this August 11 of the squad’s 17 returning runners got in shape at GSCR.

“It was a great week,” said Chieftain captain Drew Bartram, who went TO GSCR for the second time. “Definitely it helped in terms of training, but the biggest thing was the team chemistry. We all became better friends from living together.”

It began, said Masconomet head boys cross country coach Patrick Mahoney, 15 years ago when Coley Garden, a coach at Winchester, founded Camp Wilmot. Six years later the two met talked during a race in Wrentham, and Wilmot encouraged Mahoney to get involved.

“I was extremely flattered and gladly accepted,” Mahoney remembered. “At the time I had been the cross country head coach for six years, and always wanted the team to go to a cross country camp.”

The daily schedule was chock full starting with a 2-mile run before breakfast, featured speakers (including former Olympic Trials participant Nate Jenkins and current American marathoner Becca Pizzi), followed by three coaches teaching different sessions on various elements of running. After a lunch break there was free time, then a 3-to-8 mile run ending up at a lake or soak hole, followed by dinner and fun evening activities like Trivia Night, dance, or a talent show.

“There were lots of runners at the camp from a number of schools,” noted Bartram. “It was a good mix and a chance to make so many new friends.”

Mahoney saw this as an opportunity for both he and his runners. “It’s not only an opportunity for me, but for building team chemistry and camaraderie,” he said. “It’s become a Masco tradition and arguably the best week of the cross country season, even though technically it isn’t even the season yet.

“This year was extra special because five of our alumni were junior counselors at the camp, including former Salem News All-Stars Danny Cosgrove, Sebastian Gilligan, and Aidan Colbert as well as Ben Demers and Kevin Brown. It’s so amazing to see alumni giving back to Masco cross country, as well as to the other 90 runners there, long after they’ve graduated. I’m so proud of them for continuing to give back and want to positively influence the current runners on the team. It’s truly a cross country family.”

A three-season track standout for Masconomet, Bartram is in the process of looking at colleges. He’ll either go out for that school’s track team or run for a club program, but his focus in academics.

“It’s crazy because the season goes by in the blink of an eye. It’s about to start, and then it’s over,” said Bartram.

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