The most prominent family at HSMSE

Kleant Daci 2013 / Tom Henning

The High School for Math, Science and Engineering has a limited amount of sports; however, a great number of students aspire to achieve in cross country. The Flying Dragons' success as a team, in size and in competition, is due to the friendly environment that the runners create for each other.

Cross country is the most popular sport in the school because it attracts all different types of student-athletes.

“I believe many people joined cross country because we built up a reputation of being a very supportive and kind team, but also it is a place for those who probably aren't the most coordinated of athletes but happen to be talented runners instead,” said three year member Kleant Daci.

Even though cross country is fundamentally an individual sport, the members of the Flying Dragons are very unified. Although they usually don’t run with each other, they still work out together like any other team. The practices help the team devise strategies and build mental endurance for the races, helping each other reach their full potential.

“It almost feels like a big, big family,” said freshman runner Chae Young Kim.

There is a small number amount of girls on the cross country team, but they work hard to keep up with the guys.

“I don't know if I would enjoy [having more girls on the team] more because being on a co-ed team encourages me to run as fast as the guys,” girls captain Michelle Lee said. “I can't just give up because I'm a girl.”

The outcomes of this unified and family-like team helped them reach the city finals. A large number of new students are expected to join cross country again next September. Using what they learned this year, they seem more than ready to stay as a family and look to run even farther than they did before.

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