The Flying Dragons journey into PSAL

HSMSE Flying Dragons at Grand Prix 1 / T. Henning

Finally after being acknowledged this fall as a PSAL cross-country team, the HSMSE Flying Dragons trained more intensely than ever to compete against the best in the city. Training four to five days a week in addition to weekly races, this team has been striving to be among the city’s top teams. All of the work this team has done has put them on the road to a bright future.

The HSMSE Flying Dragons have been forced to train harder since becoming a PSAL team. “The intensity of the practices were much greater this year since this was our first time in the PSAL,” said senior runner Marcelo Bravo. “The added level of competition made me run faster because I feel as a team, we felt like making our mark as able competitors.” The Flying Dragons worked hard to show off their speed in city wide competitions. In their first 5k Grand Prix at Van Cortlandt Park on September 19, 2012, five Dragons runners placed in the top 10, including Bravo. “Running has made me take on a very goal-oriented approach to athletics,” Bravo said. “It has made me competitive in a sense that I always want to improve my own personal bests.”

Thomas Henning, the coach of the Dragons, sees a bright future ahead for this team. Since joining the PSAL, the runners have improved due to not only running longer distances, but also “being a year older makes a big difference,” he said. “I think we’re going to improve because our best runners will be seniors.”

One of these seniors will be Kleant Daci. The 2012 Mayor’s Cup had many more schools competing against each other than the Dragons’ first Grand Prix. The junior placed 42nd overall in the 2.5-mile varsity race out of a total of 394. He is an extremely fast runner and the coach projects him to be a top competitor next season. “I think he’ll do well; he has a great work ethic,” said Henning. “He’s very gifted as an athlete and he’s very competitive in a sense of wanting to beat other people in a race.”

Now that they are in the PSAL, the Dragons no longer go to races as an unknown school. “There is a higher degree of competition than there was before,” said Daci. “We are going up against bigger schools and there's more competition, so this urges us to do better.”

Contributed by Alex Long and Kian Zadeh