High School for Math Science and Engineering Cross Country Team Participates In the Manhattan College Cross Country Race

HSMSE Flying Dragons / Tom Henning

The HSMSE Flying Dragons took a run at the Manhattan College Cross Country Race held in Van Cortlandt Park, on October 11th, 2011. Thousands of runners across the country participated in this race. The Flying Dragons ran without stress because what mattered to them was improvement, not their place.

The race went well with Matthew Brown having the fastest time on the team with a pace of 6:23 and an ending time of 15:58 on a 2.5 mile run. He finished 137th out of the thousands of competitors. Kleant Daci and Patrick Nolan also had quick times with both having the same pace of 6:48 and an ending time of 16:59 and 17:00 with Nolan beating him by a second on a 2.5 mile race.

The runners practiced 5 days a week with one day off allowed during the weekdays. They ran both long distances and short distances with a fast pace. They did hillwork and time trials to improve their pace. “We are like brothers and sisters. We push each other and give motivation. We are like a big loving family,” Kleant Daci said.

The team was happy with their placements. Their place in the race did not matter; however, what mattered the most was finishing the race and showing some sort of improvement. "[We] mainly focus on improvement and then position," said Daci.

Flying Dragons  begin their race / Tom Hennin

Contributed by: Prince Lam-moise and Tithi Chowdhury