Cape Tech Cross-Country Cruises To Undefeated Regular Season, League Title

 HARWICH – Cape Cod Tech cross-country coach Sam McCormack wanted to ramp up the intensity. Despite fielding a small group of young runners, McCormack was determined to push the Crusaders to improve through long, intense workouts. 

His runners have risen to the occasion. 

 Cape Tech posted a perfect 5-0 regular-season record before capturing the Mayflower Athletic Conference Small league title behind a first-place finish by freshman Casey Fitzgerald on Oct. 21. 

 “This is a special group of young men,” McCormack said. “They have worked extremely hard. There’s never a complaint, and that’s quite special in this particular sport that is nothing but pain. Usually you have a lot of complaints, and I haven’t had one all season.”

 Led by senior Max McGrady, junior captain Cole Rauch and classmate Cole Benton, sophomores Dylan Vacher and Alex Gladkowski Jr., and Fitzgerald and fellow freshman Isaac Barros, the Crusaders have blossomed into one of the best teams in the MAC.

 After winning the small schools title at the league meet, the team sought to win the vocational state title on Tuesday in Wrentham after The Chronicle’s deadline. 

 Although McCormack worried about how the team would stack up with the rest of the conference due to their numbers and inexperience, it didn’t take the coach long to realize this was going to be a special fall at Cape Tech. 

 “You come into a season like that and say, ‘Boy, this is going to be a long year’ because we go against teams that are much bigger than us,” the coach said. “But we knew we had something because when I saw them run I was like, ‘Whoa, they are pretty good.’”

 Among the team’s most challenging workouts is the 100-will workout. The team ran approximately between 7.5 and nine miles while tackling 100 hills along the way. 

 “There wasn’t one complaint, which is crazy,” McCormack said.

 The runners said the workouts have been manageable and rewarding, and many have improved their times since the season began. 

 “It’s awesome,” said Barros, a Centerville resident. “I started the season off at 6:40 in the mile, and now I’m down to around 5:20. I went from 20:30 in the 5K to 18:36 on a hilly course, so there’s definitely been a lot of improvement from one and a half months of training.”

 It helps that the entire team has bought into the increased intensity and expectations. 

 “Trying to stay undefeated made us work as hard as we can,” said Vacher, a South Yarmouth resident. “We’re definitely picking it up a notch.”

 The culmination of the team’s hard work came at the league meet, when Fitzgerald took first and Barros finished second. The duo have established themselves as two of the Mayflower’s top runners this fall, though they understand this is only the beginning of their journey with the Crusaders. 

 “It’s definitely cool,” said Barros. “It feels like we’re going to be the face of something here.”

 While it has been surprising to see the dominance of the underclassmen, McCormack praised McGrady for providing leadership as the squad’s lone senior. 

 “He’s the glue of the team,” McCormack said. “He’s great to be around and a wonderful young man.”

 McGrady, a Harwich resident, said it has been special to end his career on such a positive note. 

 “This season has been the best,” McGrady said. “Sam has definitely pushed us hard because he sees our potential. We definitely have seen results, but we’ve put in a lot of work.”

 The team has made waves on campus while also gaining support from the community. McGrady credited Pizza Shark for serving as the team’s sponsor, and for providing pizza for the runners after workouts and meets. 

 It hasn’t always been easy getting through McCormack’s workouts, but the runners have embraced the challenge while understanding the program’s best is yet to come. 

 “I think overall the teamwork this year has been way more advanced than last year,” said Gladkowski, a Hyannis resident. “We are getting through everything together and our workouts are way harder. It’s awesome we still have another year together and hopefully we’ll get more people next year and go undefeated again.”