Crossing the finish line

The Washington Township High School (WTHS) boys and girls cross country teams have been picking up the pace this season.

And so has head coach, Joshua Olive, who has been overseeing both teams since mid-season. Olive, a special education teacher at WTHS, has been coaching the boys cross country team for eight years, and he spent the last two as head coach. Despite coaching both teams this fall, the students on each team have been continuing to show up and rank individually and as teams.

“The season’s been a steady grind, honestly. The guys really took command of their fate this summer with the amount of work they put in,” Olive said. “And I worked with the girls’ coach to come up with a solid training plan for the summer to safely build (everyone’s) miles. (Everyone) just took it in stride, and we’re starting to see the payoff now.”

This year, the teams are competing in South Jersey Group 4. Olive said it is “arguably the most competitive group in the state.”

“We’re in a very competitive group this year…and we are racing against some very, very talented teams, like Cherokee, Kingsway, Cherry Hill East and Southern Regional,” Olive said.

Even with the challenge, the teams are still crossing the finish lines with power, especially two juniors and two freshmen, the latter who have “definitely been making a statement this year,” according to Olive.

The boys team’s top runner, junior Trevor Szilier, placed 3rd at the Gloucester County Championships in the boys 5,000 meter run on October 15 at West Deptford Park. He ended with a time of 15:57.

Also at the championships, junior Ryan DeVecchis placed 14th with a time of 17:06. Five other boys placed within the top 45 of 79 runners.

For the girls, freshman Samantha Waddington placed 12th at the championships with a time of 21:26 in the 5,000 meter run. Close behind in 16th was freshman Payton Clark with a time of 21:52. Five other girls placed within the top 42 of 49 runners.

“It’s definitely a privilege to be able to coach kids with this amount of talent. It’s the middle pack, (the middle-ranking individual runners), who will win you the meets. If we’re gonna do something as a team, it’s going to be because of the work that those guys are doing,” Olive said.

The following week, on October 22, the boys and girls competed in the Tri-County Conference Showcase Championships.

Szilier crossed the finish line with a time of 16:02 in the 5,000 meter run, placing him in 2nd out of 124 boys. DeVecchis placed in 20th with a time of 17:23. Five other runners placed within the top 60.

Additionally, the entire WTHS boys team placed in 5th out of 17 schools with an average time of 17:38.

For the girls, Clark placed in 25th out of 82 finishers with a time of 22:18. Waddington and Giovina Trail placed 31st and 32nd with times of 22:58 and 23:02, respectively. Two other girls placed within the top 66 finishers.

At the time of this interview, the teams were preparing for the NJSIAA Sectionals – South, which was held on Halloween. The state championships are on Saturday, November 7.

Ahead of sectionals, Olive said, “this is the most ready I’ve seen this team…This is the most locked-in I’ve ever seen this group of boys. They are chomping at the bit to go and absolutely tear up this course.”

As for the girls team, which is underclassmen-heavy, Olive said, “these young girls have been just absolutely putting in the work this year. The seniors are definitely locked-in and focused, and they’ve done a really good job of guiding the younger kids in the right direction. Although we might not have a massive impact this year, the future is most definitely bright for this team.”

Results from sectionals are available now online.