Cross Country Guts Out Another FAA Team Title

Brunswick took its sixth-straight FAA cross country team title on Tuesday at Waveny Park in New Canaan. The Bruins, keyed by a gritty performance by Chris Ramos, edged long-time rival Hopkins by a razor-thin 33-34 margin to win the championship.

 

The overall race held form, as the best runner in the FAA, Nicolas Burton from Hopkins, ran away with a first-place time of 16:03, while Brunswick’s Wes Peisch finished second in a personal-best time of 17:08.7.

 

A Hopkins racer finished third, followed by a Masters School runner, as Brunswick sent the next two runners across the tape. Andres Jasson finished fifth and Kyle Raker took sixth for the Bruins. Jasson and Raker worked well together, holding their spots down the stretch to earn important team points.

 

After a St. Luke’s runner took seventh place, a pair of Hopkins runners bookended Jack Driscoll’s ninth-place time of 18:09.8, a personal best for Driscoll. At this point of the race, both Hopkins and Brunswick each had four racers across the line.

 

With team points decided by the finishing position of the top five runners for each school, pre-race planning and tactics are vital, but every so often, a surprise happens at the biggest event of the season.

 

Brunswick’s Chris Ramos was the surprise of the race, as the sophomore blazed a personal-best time of 18:19, shaving a whopping 25 seconds off his previous best time. Ramos’ inspired run started in the early stages, but the Brunswick runner kept up an excellent pace and held seventh-place with about a half-mile to go.

 

In the final stages, Ramos made a move on a downhill segment, but began to get sick on the course and nearly collapsed. With support from his nearby coaches and with Driscoll’s encouragement, Ramos stayed in the race and finished the uphill segment and final 500 yards to secure the championship for the Bruins.

 

Ramos’ 11^th-place finish was over six seconds ahead of the 12^th-place Hopkins runner. Despite slowing down during that trouble spot near the end of the course, Ramos’ remarkable early pace gave the sophomore a large enough cushion to hold on to the eventual winning position for the Bruins.

 

The Bruins have won the last six FAA Championships dating back to 2011. There was no FAA title race in 2012.

 

For race results, click here.