Quentin Koch has long known about the Xavier boys cross country program.
He followed it for years, then decided that was where he wanted to be. Koch transferred from Greenwich to Xavier after two seasons of cross country with the Cardinals.
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On Saturday, Koch was Xavier’s top runner at the Class MM championships at Wickham Park in Manchester. He finished second in 15:50.9 and helped the Falcons score 31 points to win the MM team title by a wide margin. It was Xavier’s eighth straight class title. The Falcons have won the last two MM crowns after taking six straight in Class L.
“The training, it’s tight and everyone holds each other accountable. It’s not a hostile environment, but it’s a hard-working environment, and it only elevates the guys around it,” said Koch, a junior. “It’s all love, and everybody’s best friends on the team. That makes it so much easier. We’re always out there in the mornings, working hard, getting the runs in.”
Koch improved by nearly 46 seconds on his best time at Greenwich. The lure for Koch when it came to Xavier was the program.
“Just knowing the guys, I really wanted to be a part of it. It’s so special. Every day in practice, I look forward to it,” Koch said. “That’s honestly probably the biggest change. I wanted to elevate myself and try to take myself as high as I can, and I think it’s definitely showing.”
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Koch has fit right in with his new team.
In an ironic twist, the State Open on Thursday could set up a showdown between Koch’s new team and his old one. Greenwich won the Class LL title in dominating fashion, scoring 24 points and finishing well ahead of second-place Southington (113). Like Xavier, Greenwich got a terrific performance from its top five scorers.
The Cardinals, led by individual champion James Hayes (16:19.3) and runner-up Vihaan Kamath (16:23.6), finished first, second, fourth (William Monaco, 16:30.4), eighth (Oliver Eaton, 16:36.5) and ninth (Aiden Towle, 16:44.4).
“(Xavier hasn’t) won one (State Open) in a few years (2018), so we definitely want to bring some hardware back,” Koch said. “This is the best the team has looked in a while honestly. I’ve been following the program, and it’s historic. You go to the CIAC (online), and you know Xavier.”
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Koch believes the Falcons need to keep doing what they’re doing to win an Open championship.
“You can’t let the emotions get too high. Just staying level and I think we do it. It’s ours to lose,” Koch said.
This article originally published at Quentin Koch chose Xavier for its tradition. Now he’s chasing an Open title against his old team.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
