Last year, Masters boys cross country made history. They went from seventh to second in the Fairchester Athletic Association (FAA), and from 12th to fifth in the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) Athletic Association – marking the biggest jump in championship placement in team history and proving that the team is a force to be reckoned with.
But for Head Coach Ben Allen, there is still more to accomplish.
While last year’s success was monumental, the bar is set even higher this year.
Allen said, “We’re obviously trying to go for the number one spot this year, but now we’ve got a target on our back.” The team is putting in the work to get to that goal, with Allen saying they are upping the intensity and mileage at practice to ensure they can compete at the highest level.
Through hard work, the team has placed itself in a position to compete for that top spot with other highly competitive teams in the league, such as Brunswick and Hopkins.
The impact of last year’s team, especially the leadership of standout seniors Nathan Lothian 24’ and Charlie Milward 24’, remains profound. Allen said, “Those guys were vocal leaders and great athletes on the course as well.” He went on to explain that for two years, Lothian and Milward were the focal points of the team and contributed massively to both the culture and success of the group. Now that they’ve graduated, Allen said some new people are going to have to step up into those roles.
The person stepping up the most for the team is captain Jamie Milward, a junior who has been running competitively since eighth grade. With big shoes to fill, Milward said he is embracing his new role as both a leader and competitor and is eager to keep the momentum of last season alive.
Planning to build on the legacy of last year’s team, he said, “Last year’s success was really a confidence booster. We went from a team that wasn’t really in the competition at all to one that was running to win it, and it sort of set an expectation: now that we’ve gotten to this level, let’s try to stay here.”
Jamie Milward ran with last year’s seniors for two years and was inspired by how they built a culture of both fun and competition, something that he hopes to continue. He said, “They had a sense of when to take things seriously, and they knew when you could make things fun; that is the culture I am trying to keep.”
For Milward, one of the most important aspects of a winning team is running as a team. In cross country, only the top runners for each team contribute to the teams overall placement. However, Milward takes the stance that every runner matters.
He said, “Cross country, as much as running is an individual sport, is a team sport. For me, it’s really about trusting in my teammates when the time comes, and trusting in myself.”
This year, the team has already hit the ground running and is well on their way to achieving their goals. The teams’ top five runners this year are Tozia Kawabata ‘25, Jamie Milward ‘26, Liam Chappelear ‘27, Jose Miester ‘26 and Owen Bull ‘26, all of whom are posting highly competitive times.
They have been to two meets so far, the FAA season opener and the Canterbury Invitational, and the Panthers have placed third and second respectively, both times missing at least one of their top five runners (Miester missed two meets for a minor injury, while Kawabata was unable to attend one race due to outside circumstances). These results place the team well within the range of competition for their goal of winning the FAA championship.
In addition to positioning themselves for success this year, the team is looking like it is only going to improve in the future, with most of the top runners having at least one more season with the team. Only one of the top seven runners (Tozai Kawabata) will graduate this year, and three of the top seven runners are currently underclassmen.
