An OVERVIEW

Since its beginnings in 1890, Choate Rosemary Hall has built a formidable reputation on a tradition of academic excellence. As we proceed into our second century, the focus on outstanding teaching and scholastic achievement is still at the heart of the school's mission. Fortunately, attainment in athletics also is an important part of our institutional heritage. At Choate, athletic excellence is judged not by a team's win-loss record, but by the skills, discipline, teamwork, sportsmanship, and dedication to improvement demonstrated by our student-athletes. Happily, the pursuit of these ideals--these "habits of excellence"--often results in winning efforts, as well. Choate Rosemary Hall teams and athletes in a wide range of sports are highly successful in competition at state, regional, and even national and international levels.

The sport of cross-country running enjoys a long and distinguished history at Choate. The squad consistently finishes among the top teams in the New England Prep School Cross Country Championships. Our season, which begins and ends with large invitational and championship meets, is centered around competition in the Founders League--an athletic association of the major independent schools in Connecticut--and against other traditional rivals such as Andover, Deerfield, and Northfield Mt. Hermon. In recent years, Choate Cross Country has realized great success, posting impressive dual meet records and winning multiple Scott Bowl, Founders League, and New England championships. In addition, our top varsity runners have won individual titles in the big meets and repeatedly have been recognized with All-League and All-New England Team honors. Since 1996, the Wild Boars have dominated their state championship and usually have finished either first or second in the New England meet.

More important to us than trophies and titles won, however, is the fact that the student-athletes in our program demonstrate tremendous improvement, having set most of the fastest times ever on our home course in the past few seasons. Each fall, we chart Choate runners' performances relative to their opposition at several points in the season. Year in and year out, our runners improve more during the season than their rivals do. That's a point of pride among our coaching staff and testament to the efforts and dedication of our athletes. We are committed to developing young men who value hard work, a strong team ethic, and a sense of sportsmanship.

A few runners arrive at Choate with competitive experience in the sport already under their belts, but most members of our team begin serious training and racing here at school. The success we've achieved therefore reflects a lot of "homegrown" talent--another hallmark of Choate Cross Country. We are dedicated to maintaining a program that serves the novice and elite runner equally well--and one that allows the novice to become an elite runner in time. That's the Choate Cross Country way.

Wallingford is an ideal locale in which to train, with a nice mix of rolling hills, woodland trails, public parks, and scenic country roads. On the Choate campus itself, we maintain a 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) course over fields and woodland trails for interscholastic meets.

Last revised: September 28, 2006