The boys cross country team kicked off their regular season on Sept. 16 with the team’s first non-invitational meet, held at Chinquapin Park. The Atoms squared off against three other schools: Woodson, T.C. Williams, and West Springfield.

During the meet, the top ten varsity runners ran the course as a workout while the junior varsity runners were put on the line to test their metal.

Most of the runners on the cross country team thought the course was hard and exhausting.

One runner, sophomore Austin Chavez described the course as, “repetitive, hilly, and a bad course for me. We ran by the same place three times. Then into the woods and then it got really hilly. There was really bad terrain.”

The same tone of exhaustion was carried throughout the meet as the clouds rained down on the runners. Kids from every school stood at checkpoints to direct the runners where to go and support their team. Parents stood at the finish line with the coaches and girls as they watched their children compete against each other.

Coach David O’Hara, who is in his first year as head coach, stated before the race that he thought, “the JV guys are going to do well.”

“I thought the race was hardcore. I felt nauseated at the end though. To prepare for the race, I listened to Lil Wayne and warmed up with the team. My favorite stretch to do is the ducky (butterfly) stretch,”said junior Brandon Marwah, who came in at 89th place.

“The first part of the race was flat, after the first mile, things got difficult. Overall, it was a bad course,” said sophomore Dylan Gore.

The results of the race looked good for the Atoms. The top five finishers from Annandale were sophomores Khalid Abdu and Hung Truong along with seniors Chris Marshall, Yery Gonzalez, and Tyler Britton. By the end of the meet, Coach O’Hara had a proud look on his face as he announced the names of his athletes during the bus ride home.

“[My first season is] going good, everybody’s working their hardest. It was always my dream to be the head coach of a cross country team,” said O’Hara.

Coach O’Hara also stated that he had only one goal for his team; “one goal, baby. Regionals.”