Amazing Racers by Marc Bloom

Author:Marc Bloom
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Epub3
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Published: 2019-05-20T00:00:00+00:00

In the first four years of Nike Cross Nationals, Fayetteville-Manlius had separated from the rest of the country. In 2004 and 2005, the F-M boys had taken second and third. In both 2006 and 2007, the F-M girls were victorious, the latter by a wide margin. (The boys 2007 champion was Neuqua Valley of Illinois.)

While this dominance inspired awe, it also generated curiosity, envy, and even anger. No one could imagine what a high school cross-country team could be doing to achieve such superiority. What did they know in New York that they did not know elsewhere in the country? After all, teenagers were . . . teenagers.

At Saugus, even before the meet, Fayetteville’s intrigue had so captivated the coach, Rene Paragas, that he’d posted photos of the F-M girls in the team locker room. “These are their names. This is who they are,” Paragas told his girls. “These are the times they’ve run. They have two legs like you. They get tired like you . . . ”

It made sense for Paragas to try and frame the F-M girls as “just like you.” I doubt any of the Saugus girls bought it. But there were times when Fayetteville girls found refuge in being both: intimidating and normal. In Portland, Mackenzie Carter, who’d clutched her rough stone from Otter Creek as an omen of grandeur, summoned a guilty pleasure in observing other teams “just happy to be there,” envying them a little for their average-girl comforts.

“We were so young,” she said. “I wanted the race to be over so we could go to the dance and be up all night.”

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