A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHOATE CROSS COUNTRY

Choate runners Clay Schwabe '98 (right) and Jonathan Hamilton '98 on their way to a 1-2 finish
in the 1997 Founders League Cross Country Championships.

Interscholastic Competition

     Cross-country running was established at Choate as early as 1919, but the first extant records of an interscholastic schedule date back to the 1933 season, when the team posted a 2-1 record, winning its first two meets against Bridgeport Central High, 25-30, and Loomis, 24-33, before narrowly falling to Middletown High, 26-29. A number of enduring rivalries for the Blue and Gold developed as other New England prep schools gradually were added to the dual meet schedule. Mount Hermon School was first an opponent in 1940, Deerfield in 1948 (Choate won the first Choate/Deerfield cross country contest, 19-36), Taft in 1959 (Choate won, 19-40), Hotchkiss in 1963, and Kent and Kingswood-Oxford in 1971 (Choate won, 19-42 and 15-50, respectively).

The Coaches

     Longtime Choate athletic director Rowland C. Massie led the troops as coach through the early days of Choate Cross Country, from 1929 until 1953. Rollie Massie's successor was Bob Clements, a mathematics teacher who coached the team for two seasons. Clements' assistant in 1955 was Mark Tuttle, who then headed the program from 1956 through his retirement in the spring of 1988. Mr. Tuttle had run competitively at Harvard and was an assistant cross country coach at Phillips Exeter Academy several years before his arrival at Choate. While at the school, Mr. Tuttle taught mathematics, coached cross country and track, and served a long tenure as dean of third form boys. Ned Gallagher of the history and English departments picked up the head coaching reins in the fall of 1988 and has been ably assisted by Roger Smith (1988-1991), Martha Perkins (1992-1995), Aaron Baggish '93 (1997-2001), Scott Mattoon (2000-2007), Mike Danahy (2004 to 2005), Scott Kelly (2006-2007), Mark Salisbury (2008 to date), Ean Saberski '04 (2008-2009), Will Nowak '06 (2010 to date), and Cullen Roberts (2010 to date).

The Home Course

Head Coach Ned Gallagher directs runners at the starting line, with the Paul Mellon Arts Center in the background.

     According to Coach Mark Tuttle, before 1955 the Choate course was only 1.9 miles in length and included the path down Suicide Hill! In 1955, Bob Clements changed it to a 2.1-mile course that went up the hill. Coach Tuttle lengthened the course to 2.35 miles when he took over the following year. Because of problems with parked cars, that course was changed in 1959 and subsequently measured 2.21 miles in length. In 1967, following a NEPSTA recommendation that courses be standardized to a 2.5-mile minimum, the Choate route was lengthened and the "double loop"--the heart of that cross country course--was established. On the heels of another NEPSTA recommendation, the course was upped about another quarter-mile in 1978 by adding the first hill before starting the loop, but not including the lap around the Maguire North soccer field. That final piece was added for the New England Championship meet of 1987 but was not established as part of the dual meet course until September of 1989. That course, 2.95 miles in length, was slightly modified in the fall of 2001, when the start was moved to the Gunpowder Creek field to avoid the Johnson Athletic Center expansion, and was in use for almost twenty years.
     In 2006, the Wild Boars completed the first phase of a transition to a brand new 5-kilometer course comprised entirely of fields and woodland trails on the undeveloped northeastern corner of the campus; the construction of the J.D. Bridge the following summer facilitated the inclusion of a new first mile. The current home course was thus completed in time for the 2007 season and hosted the NEPSTA Division I Championships in November of that year. It has garnered rave reviews from opposing coaches as a true cross country course, quite possibly the finest on the New England prep school circuit.

Click here to see PR times set by Choate runners on the home course.

The Great Seasons

Mike Dolan '86 (right) and David Buck '86 finished first and second in the
1985 New England Cross Country Championships, leading Choate to its first team title in the event.

     Since 1919, only five teams have finished the dual meet season with an unblemished record: 1950, 1979, 1984, 1985, and 1997. There have been a couple of near misses in recent years, too; the 1986, 1992, and 2002 squads lost only one meet. Specific achievements in the great seasons include the following:

• The 1950 squad was the first schoolboy team ever to defeat Mt. Hermon School in a dual meet and finished the season with 6-0 dual meet record and second-place honors in the New England meet held in Providence, Rhode Island. The large framed photograph in the front hallway of the Johnson Athletic Center depicts the 1950 squad finishing in a five-way tie for first place against Deerfield at home.
• The 1971 team was the first Choate squad to defeat the Mt. Hermon varsity on its home course.
• In 1979, Choate won the Canterbury Invitational and finished the season with a 10-0 dual meet record and a 3rd place finish in the NEPSTA meet.
• The 1984 varsity posted a 10-0 record (the junior varsity was a similarly impressive 9-0-1), won the Canterbury Invitational and the Scott Bowl, and finished second in the New Englands. This great season, however, was only a prelude to what was achieved the following year.
• 1985 saw the Choate boys undefeated in every race they ran, from the Canterbury Invitational in September through the New England Championships at Taft in mid-November. Along the way, the team won the Scott Bowl and the inaugural Founders League meet. The team's top runners set a number of course records along the way.
• In 1986, Choate Cross Country returned to earth, but lost only one meet--a 28-27 heartbreaker to Deerfield! The team repeated as League champs and finished third in the New England meet.
• The 1992 squad posted an 8-1 mark and emerged as Scott Bowl and Founders League champions.
• In 1996, the undefeated (9-0-1) junior varsity team thoroughly dominated the Founders League Championships by taking seven of the first eight finishing positions to post a meet record 16 points. In the varsity race at the same meet, Jonathan Hamilton '98 pulled off a stunning upset to win the title and set the course record at Hotchkiss (bettering the fastest time in the New England Championships of 1994).
• In 1997, the Wild Boars were flawless, beginning with a win at the Canterbury Invitational, sweeping ten dual meets, and earning laurels in both the Founders League and New England meets. The junior varsity was equally impressive, also posting an undefeated record.
• Choate's 1998 varsity posted an 8-2 dual meet record but avenged its losses in successfully defending its Founders League and New England crowns in November. The Choate JV capped its unbeaten streak with perfect scores of "15" in both championship meets.
• The 1999 campaign was capped by a third straight League title (the JV won their fourth in a row) and another successful defense of the Scott Bowl. The varsity finished 2nd in the New England meet, while the JV earned a three-peat in the championships.
• The Wild Boars extended their domination of the Founders League meet with wins at both levels and snared a fourth straight Scott Bowl in 2000.
• Choate secured a fifth consecutive League title in 2001 and won its third New England championship in five years.
• The streak of Founders League titles continued in 2002, as the Choate varsity and JV won again. The Wild Boars finished second in the New England meet, narrowly missing first place honors.
• The 2003 squad shattered the team composite record on the home course and finished second in both the League and New England meets, with three of the top five finishers in both championships. Nate Gelb '04 won the League individual title and a week later teammate Frank DiVittorio '04 captured the New England individual crown.

Last revised: November 17, 2010