Sport of kings

A local high school cross country coach once told me he felt cross country was the "Sport of Kings." I was never quite sure what he meant by that. But that old codger of a coach was there on Friday, coaching his team as usual at the Mid-Hudson Athletic League Championships at Mills Mansion in Staatsburg. With a little juggling of my own practice schedule, I was there too -- as a dad. My son Joey is a freshman on the FD Roosevelt team. They are a young, up-and-coming team. The varsity boys finished fourth in the meet. Joey did not make the cut for the varsity race, but he did run the non-varsity race and did well, as did his team. He broke 20:00 for the first time on his challenging home course, and if there were team scoring in his race they would have won easily. So, in theory, the future is bright for the Presidents.

The atmosphere surrounding high school cross country in general -- and the MHAL meet specifically -- is truly special. Add to that a classic, mid-Hudson Valley fall day with cool temperatures, cloudy skies and leaves falling from brightly colored trees, and I'm starting to get the "sport of kings" thing.

Thanks to the multi-talented Jim Sheahan for sharing the above photo of Joey powering his way to the uphill finish. Jim is an excellent writer, photographer and editor; was my former editor at the Poughkeepsie Journal before the economic downturn eliminated his position. He was perhaps the nicest and easiest boss I ever had the pleasure of working for and with. He is now works at Bard College in athletic communications, and his son is a modified runner at Red Hook. The other photo is one that Joey took; he and his non-varsity teammates etched their team name into the sand at the beach along the Hudson River at Mills as a show of team support and unity. Sport of kings indeed.