The youthful energy of the Kensington Woods Boys Cross Country came to their advantage last Wednesday, September 22nd in their third meet of the year.  The Running Bears recorded their first victory of the season in their first dual meet, narrowly defeating Charyl Stockwell Preparatory Academy (CSPA), 28-27.

The Kensington Woods squad is a young group, with three freshmen, one sophomore and one junior. The Kensington Woods Bears took the top spot in the meet, with freshman Dave Doyle finishing first.  This was one second off his personal best at the Kensington Metropark Possom Hollow course in a time of 21:04. Dave said,  "It was tiring because of the weather, it was really humid. Running on my own was hard because there was less motivation and the course is so hilly."

The Bears and the CSPA Sentinels alternated places throughout the race, causing the close results. Kensington Woods finished in first, third, fifth, eighth and tenth. Coach Pratt commented that, "Although the runners were spread out in their times, they kept the race competitive with their finishes. Had two runners switched places, CSPA would have won the meet. It's really a great example of how much impact one runner can have in a cross country meet."

Freshman Marcos Frank ran a personal best for the course, finishing 3^rd overall in a time of 23:37.  He said, "I think I could have done better; the heat made it difficult to run in. But it felt good to win for myself and Kensington Woods." Also finishing for the Bears were Junior Jacob Honey, Sophomore Dean Bradbury and Freshman Mark Siminski.

Being two smaller high schools in the area, Kensington Woods and Charyl Stockwell Academy have struck up a rivalry, facing each other multiple times over the course of the Cross Country Season in dual meets and bigger Invitational. "We've talked a little about strategy, but I just wanted to give the team a chance to go out there and see what they can do," said Coach Pratt.  "Now that we've won against CSPA by such a narrow margin, I'm sure they'll be gunning for us next time." The Bears and Sentinels next face each other at Kensington Metropark's Possom Hollow on Wednesday, October 6 at 4:30pm.

Pratt was proud of the girl Bears and Sentinels too, saying,  "Although the girls on both teams didn't have enough runners to compete in a full meet, both teams went out and ran hard on a tough course Wednesday." Senior Carly Niedwiecki was the only finisher on the Bears side. Special recognition goes out to Junior Eryca Cottle who finished a strong 2 miles in her first meet of the year and new recruit Krystal Franck for helping out.

The Kensington Woods Bears next face Trillium Academy from Taylor at Possom Hollow on Thursday, September 30, at 4:30 pm, and then move on to the Byron Invite on Saturday.

The Running Bears start off against the CSPA Sentinels.