Senior Night

Forest Park

Tomorrow, the Cross Country Spartan ts will return to Forest Park for the Findley Memorial. For a good amount of Seniors of the team, this will be there last 5k of their high school career. The guys shared what cross country has meant to them through the years.

"Cross Country was the first thing that I ever did at De Smet. It was the first chance I got to encounter the people and brotherhood of the school. Some of the friends that I have know I met during my first year of cross country. I can still remember the first day when Seamus walked down the bleacher steps, talking big game and making a name for himself. I was actually intimidated, but now we are friends. Being the in the back part of the group has given me the chance to interact with runners of all ages and classes which I think has helped influence my character and make it better. Thanks Cross Country for a great four years...oh and thanks to all the runners too." Ben Herries- 4 seasons

"The last two years I have gained a lot of friends I wouldn’t have w/o this sport such as Patrick, glen, beers, OC, Martini, and obviously the great Ed O’Brien. But it has also given me a lot of confidence that I lacked before coming on the team. It is amazing being on a team where everybody cheers everyone else on from Kabes all the way down. Getting to run with all of you guys has been something I will never forget. My favorite race is a tie between Last Friday’s Clayton race where I first broke 20 and medaled for the first time and Borgia last year. I would like to thank the entire team for giving me an experience I would never forget. Finally the greatest lesson I learned is when you think you don’t have anything left there’s always a little bit you can tap into and beat the time you want." Drew Higgins- 2 seasons

"Tomorrow will be the end of my high school Cross Country career. I started this during my junior year and the only way that I could describe these two seasons is with a simple "awesome." I have spent the vast majority of my XC time in the lower end of the groups and even if our adventures through the dangerous streets of Creve Couer don't usually get published in the blog, they have been amazing. It is actually somewhat hard to pick out a favorite time. One of my favorites is a Spoede-Mosley that I ran with Pribe, big Ed, and several others. During that long run, Pribe told a riddle of epic proportions that kept us guessing for many miles. Thank you to my fellow runners and coaches who have made running great." Matt Coleman- 2 seasons

Three runners will close out cross country in the JV race at Sectionals.

"Cross country has just been an in general awesome experience for me. I would just like to thank the whole team, graduated to freshmen. Even people who I didn’t talk to really, like the seniors my freshmen year, still had a great affect on me. I also would really like to thank the coaching staff. From T-bone with his great enthusiasm, T-time with his general rippedness gave encouragement to everyone, Williams with his stats, times, and strategies, Russo who is kind of chill be still really cares about the team and gets your splits and gets you motivated to keep going, to Boland who was a big influence my freshmen year with the talks about things that aren’t probably appropriate for the blog. And Rob who I haven’t really talked to or spent much time with but seems like he really cares about the team and helps Kevin run his workouts. And Leeman, enough said. One major thing from Cross country that I got was all the friends I made from it and the six pack which gets all the ladies. My favorite part was Seamus RPG and the random but awesome conversations that I’ve had on long runs. I also loved the random, sometimes inappropriate banter that came from every run pretty much. My personal favorite was the conversation about “My Coach Traughber”. It’s an inside joke but trust me it was amazing. Thanks again everyone, you guys have had a big influence on my life, hopefully for the better." Dan Bowman- 4 seasons

"Having run cross country for four years, I can definitively say it has been my favorite thing at De Smet. The guys and coaches on the team were friends, mentors, and most importantly motivators to me and I am thankful that I was able to find my way into such a great community. You guys are truly the best!" Josh Goetz- 4 seasons

"My time on the team has been blessing even though everyday I’d start off not looking forward to practice during it I was always at peace, I could take out my stress while running, I didn’t have to worry about life while I was running, I could be with my friends while I was running, and I could be me while I ran. The best days of all were the one of me coming home knowing I did what I did to the best of my abilities. Oh and having the Coaches I had was also a blessing, I hope I touched all their hearts as much as they did mine. So yeah, Thank you Coach Traughber, Thank you Coaches, Thank you Team, Thank You DeSmet Cross Country" Seamus Hamilton- 4 seasons

Thanks a lot guys. Good luck to all the Spartans racing tomorrow.