SPS Runs Past Groton and St. Sebs

On Friday, September 15th, the St. Paul’s School (SPS) harriers traveled to Groton School for their opening meet against the hosting Zebras and the also-visiting Arrows from St. Sebastian’s School (St. Seb’s). Featuring debuts from a strong Form of 2027 but without both senior captains, the SPS boys knew that they would have to pace particularly wisely on the temporary (due to flooding) and fast course to compete well against teams who were close matches the previous year.

One runner from Groton and three from St. Seb’s hit the opening and downhill mile fast, putting Andrew Carroll ‘25 in fifth and behind him a strong pack of Ian Chang ‘25, Linus Krenkel ‘27, and Owen Gorenc ‘27 pacing together amidst runners from other schools. Just a few steps behind that group, Chappy Carroll ‘27, Sam Du ‘25, and Harry Moyer ‘27 looked poised to place well approaching the halfway mark. The course’s main turn down by Groton’s Bingham Boathouse proved to be a separating threshold, as the competitors started to stretch on their way back up to the two-mile mark and a fast closing third of the race.

Carroll cashed in on a more conservative start than the St. Seb’s lead runners and passed all three in the ending loops to finish second and with a career personal record to start the year. The three point swing for each team would cause SPS to beat St. Seb’s 27-32 in their dual-meet scoring, but only because the other aforementioned SPS runners held or improved their positions in the back half of the race. Though Groton’s lead runner captured first, the SPS depth ensured victory in the other dual-meet scoring 24-32.

New runners Luca Bocresion ‘26, Kyle Gump ‘26, Grant Lebar ‘27, Enzo Leventis-Cox ‘25, Teddy Madara ‘25, Ryan Su ‘26, William Su ‘26, and Ryan Wu ‘27 ran well in their opening race.

The SPS runners will next host Lakes Region schools for an invitational on Wednesday, September 20th.