FALMOUTH, Maine — Students from Falmouth are preparing to compete Saturday in the National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships.
Four of the students are in sixth grade and attend Falmouth Middle School. Another four are from other schools that the Falmouth students met at other cross country and track meets, coach John Simpson said, making up the Maine Puffins. Another ninth grader, Georgia Moon, is also headed to the competition after missing the cut in 2022.
“It’s amazing that kids this young can focus this well and work this hard and yet still have so much fun," Simpson said.
Simpson's son, Theodore, and his friend, Jonah Magnuson, have been on the team and competed at nationals in 2022. Since then, they recruited two of their friends who had never run cross country before to join.
“We heard about Mateo’s mile time which was 6:02, so we thought we would recruit him to the team," Magnuson said.
“We have at least two runners on our team that we wouldn’t have had by finding out they had a fast time in gym class," Simpson said.
Those two, Mateo Diaz-Pedrosa and Flynn Stetson, helped the team reach nationals. Theodore Simpson placed 31st at regionals, but the other two scored high enough to help the team make the cut-off of the top 30 teams to head to Louisville.
"I needed every one of the people on my team to qualify, and I’m very grateful for that, because that was one of the most scary moments of my running career, and I didn’t know if we were going to go or not, and I was really scared, but I really am thankful for my teammates for helping us out," Simpson said.
The team is ranked fifth out of 75 teams competing Saturday.
“It’s just like about how far you’ve come in a year, and it’s not just physically but also emotionally, and the mental piece is such a big piece," Moon said.
Moon will run in the 4 kilometer while the boys will run in the 3 kilometer. Top 25 individuals and Top 3 teams in each age group earn medals and All-American honors.
Magnuson said he wears his lucky color, orange, as well as a pair of socks he won in French class. The 12-year-old's advice to his teammates: calm the nerves.
“You’ve got to channel that and use it to run faster," Magnuson said.
The races start at 9 a.m. at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park in Louisville on Saturday.