By Declan McGuire ‘20

On Saturday, Sept. 28, the Brother Rice cross country team took a trip to Montrose Harbor to compete in the 42nd Loyola Lakefront Invitational.

For many years, the lakefront meet has been an event filled with good runners and great weather, but this year only one of those two factors were true.

Upon arriving at Montrose Harbor, you could tell that the conditions were not ideal for most runners, but for our team, it was no problem. As we ran the course for our warmup, we knew what to expect: frigid rain, murky water, sludge and slop at every turn, flooded tunnels, and, of course, a gigantic, steep hill. Instead of running on the lakefront, it felt like we were running through a swamp.

As the race started, we felt ready, and knew that today was going to be fun. From the first turn, we already got a taste of our breakfast for the day: mud with a side of seeping wet spikes. Despite having to take wider turns than usual to avoid going face first into the mud that oozed beneath our feet, the course went smooth and fast.

The Crusaders ran ugly for sure that day, and looked the part, too. It was a bad day to wear white socks, but if you did, then you finished that race with a nice new brown pair. But even in the worst of conditions, six runners were able to record personal bests, and varsity runners Mikey Corcoran and Jimmy Maguire placed in the top 25 in the varsity race.

Mikey Corcoran said, “I knew the conditions were going to be tough, but I felt confident in myself and my teammates. We gave it our all today, and I am really looking forward to see how we do next week at Niles West.”

After a strong showing at the 42nd Loyola Lakefront Invitational, the team looks forward to getting even better for next week’s meet at Niles West.