The boys cross country team opened the 2022 season at the Lavern Gibson Cross Country Course and had very solid performances in both the varsity and JV races. The varsity squad finished 8th out of 37 teams, led by junior Jack Loiselle’s 24th place finish with a new PR effort of 16:58. Just behind him was senior Owen Flynn, running one of the fastest times of his career and finishing 28th overall. Senior Drew Lovelace ran an outstanding race as well, finishing as Westfield’s third runner. Rounding out the scorers were the freshman phenom Caleb Haney and the sophomore sensation Owen Mohler. Freshman Taye Gutwein ran a stellar time in the first 5K of his life, and junior Ian Porter ran a fantastic race as well. The JV opened the season with a dominant victory, placing five runners in the top 10. The duel between sophomore Will Snedeker and senior Ike O’Neill (in his return from a lengthy injury) stole the show, with Snedeker coming out on top to claim the individual title and claim a spot in the (unofficial) JV Hall of Fame. The two battled it out for virtually the entire race, trading the lead back and forth until Snedeker took control in the last kilometer and never looked back. O’Neill held on for second place, and was joined by sophomore Porter Temples (6th), sophomore Charlie Naas (7th), and freshman Owen Dilley (10th) as scorers for the Shamrocks. Other great performances were turned in by freshman Dominic Newell and sophomore Jeremy Smits. The Shamrocks are back in action on Saturday morning in the Plainfield Relays.