On Tuesday, Sept. 17, the Archie Williams boys cross country team took on Redwood High School and San Marin High School for their first league meet of the season at Lake Lagunitas. Fueled by the shadow of Mt. Tamalpais and surrounded by nature, the Falcons took first place.

The Falcons have a strong team and ambitious goals for this year. 

“We have some big goals. [We want] to go undefeated and to win the [Marin County Athletic League (MCAL)] championships, to win [the North Coast Section (NCS) playoffs], and to get on the state podium,” said head Archie Williams boys cross country coach Robyn Berry.

Archie Williams “V-Boys” lived up to their expectations today with their first ever podium sweep, securing first, second, and third place.

“Last year we got swept by Redwood, and it suck[ed]. We’ve never swept them before so it was just a lot of fun,” Berry said

The Falcons started the race strong with senior Ian Sharp getting an early lead on the competition. Archie Williams stayed in the lead through the course’s climb and despite the tough incline of the Lake Lagunitas trail, Ian finished with a time of 13:11 minutes. Senior Ryan Seeley and Junior Milo Hetherington followed, both with times under 13:40 minutes.

Ian has his eyes set on the future.

“MCAL is the goal. For [MCAL] championships at the end of the season I’ll be battling it out with [Junior] Lucas Ruark and [Senior] Will Mulliken, and the goal is just getting first.” 

Berry admired the performance of Archie Williams’ freshmen in the race. 

“[For] a lot of freshmen today, it was their first race. They really struggled [during] practices at the beginning, but now they’re already super strong, and I think very proud of what they did today,” Berry said.

The new team members have set high expectations for themselves, aiming to improve their performance over the season.

“[I want to] get better with stamina and not putting myself down for the upcoming season,” said freshman Mathias Gomez.

The boys cross country team began practicing five weeks ago, August 12, before the school year even started. The Falcons are training hard in preparation for MCALs and NCS after their loss to Tamalpais High School last year. 

The Falcons enjoyed the competition Redwood and San Marin brought and the outcomes of the race. Archie Williams’ performance today indicates that the team has a chance at outperforming local schools in NCS and MCALs, and they are looking forward to their next race Saturday, Sept. 21 at the De La Salle Invitational.