About Cross Country

Head Coach
Mr. Mark Murray: mmurray@stjohnshigh.org

Assistant Coaches
Paul Oparowski
Luke Wajrowski

High School Practices will begin on Monday, August 21st - 2:30-5:00 pm.
Candidates will meet outside the Upper Locker room at the rear of the school. Please bring a relatively new pair of training (not racing) shoes for running.
 
Middle School Head Coach
Sean Dillon: sdillon@stjohnshigh.org
 
For middle school cross country, an in-person meeting will be held during orientation, and middle school tryouts will begin on Friday, September 1st, and continue the following week (beginning on Tuesday, September 5th).

2023 HIGH SCHOOL PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
Weekday Practices 2:30-5:00PM @ SJHS (outside upper locker room)

SJXC Information

List of 6 items.

  • 2019 Meet Results

  • 2018 Meet Results

    Click below for meet results
    Read More
  • 2017 Meet Results

  • General Information

    Cross Country is a Fall sport.  There is a freshmen, JV and Varsity team.  All teams practice together. 
    Read More
  • Information about Physicals and Pre-Concussion Form

    All Student Athletes must use the Magnus Health Portal to download all Tryout Health Requirement Forms. The Magnus Health portal is available via the Saint John’s Parents’ Resource Page.
     
    1. Annual Physical Form
      All Students must submit a valid Annual Physical Report before they can try out.
    Physicals are valid for 13 months after the Physical Examination Date.
    1. Concussion Awareness Training Form
    All Students must take the required Concussion Awareness course before they can try out.
    To ensure continued safety for all students participating in Athletics at the high school level, the state of Massachusetts, along with the MIAA, have recently mandated that all student-athletes, as well as parents, must participate in the National Federation of State High School Association’s Concussion Awareness program.

    This program consists of online courses.  Students must take the "Concussion for Students" course while a Parent must take the “Concussion in Sports” course.  There is a corresponding exam for each course. These courses can be found at www.nfhslearn.com and are free.  All Students and a Parent/Guardian will be required to participate in these online courses.

    No student will be allowed to participate in any Athletic practice, scrimmage, or game at Saint John’s High School without downloading both his and a Parent/Guardian’s Certificate of Course Completion to the Magnus Health Portal.
     
    1. Pre-Participation Concussion Form
    All Students must complete a Pre-Participation Concussion form before the start of every Athletic season for which they plan to participate. 
    In keeping with the requirements set forth in the Massachusetts 105 CMR 201.000, this form (available on Magnus Health Portal) must be completed by a student’s parent(s) or legal guardian(s).
  • SJXC Policies

    Team Policies
    Read More

XC FAQs

List of 2 frequently asked questions.

  • Q: When does practice start and what do I need?

    Practice will start at 2:30 on the field next to the outdoor multi-purpose courts behind Conal Hall.  Please wear running shoes and clothes, a wristwatch with a stopwatch function, and bring a water bottle.
  • Q: What is the History of SJXC?

    Saint John’s High School Cross Country History 1964-2016
                                                                                                              
         The first Saint John's High School Cross Country Team took to the trails and fields around the Shrewsbury campus in the fall of 1964. Shrewsbury High School was Saint John's first Cross Country Opponent, the Pioneers won the inaugural meet defeating the 1962 State Champions and starting an intense rivalry that continues to this day. In that first season, Wachusett Regional High School of Holden, defeated the Pioneers by a score of 15 to 50, yet another great rivalry was born. In 1966 Doherty High School of Worcester opened its doors and the first athletic event in Doherty's history was a cross country meet with Saint John's, won by the Highlanders. Many opponents have come and gone over the years but these three traditional rivals provide a link to the past and a standard for all Pioneer Teams to measure themselves against. The inaugural group of Pioneer Thin-Clads compiled a record of five wins against three losses and established a winning tradition that has continued for fifty threeyears, only one team in the history of the program has failed to post a winning record.
     
         Over the years the team has compiled eighteen undefeated seasons and a dual meet record of four hundred sixty one wins against seventy four losses and one tie,a winning percentage of .862.Saint John's Cross Country teams have won thirty eight conference championship meets and forty eight invitational meet titles including Wachusett, Kiwanis, Middlesex News, Catholic Memorial, Brown University, Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association, Wickham Park, Ocean State and the Manhattan College Eastern States Invitational. The teams have won twenty four MIAA Central Sectional Championships and made forty three appearances in the MIAA All State Meet where they finished as runners up in 1998, 1999, 2006 and 2015. Since 1968, when the MIAA adopted its current qualifying format, no other team in the state can claim more appearances in the state final than the Pioneers. In its fifty threeyear history, the Cross Country Team has won a total of five hundred seventy competitions, an average of more than ten per year.
     
         Individually, thirty eight Pioneer harriers, including this year's champion, Matt Catarius '19, have won conference championships, twenty four have won invitational meet championships, including this year's captain Ben Kovacs '17 who won MSTCA Championships at the Twilight Invitational and the Bay State Invitational. Ten Pioneer Harriers have been crowned MIAA Central Sectional Champions including Christopher Georgules class of 1991 and Jonathan Green class of 2013 who won two titles each. Other Pioneer Sectional Champions were John Turpin 1975, Jeffrey Daoust 1987, Eric Burns 1992, Timothy Curran 1998, Jonathan Drappi 1999, Richard Downing 2000, Matthew Tieuli 2005 and Ben Kovacs in 2016.
     
         Georgules won the Individual State Championship in1990 and Green captured back to back State Titles in 2011 and 2012. Green set all time records at the Gardner Golf Course, 13:50.8 for 2.9 miles and on Northfield Mountain's 5000 meter course at 15:29.7. Georgules placed fourth at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional Championship and advanced to the National Finals in San Diego as one of the top forty runners in the country. Green made two trips to San Diego, his second after finishing second in the Northeast to the eventual national champion, Edward Cheserek.
     
       The long history of the sport of Cross Country at Saint John's High School is indeed defined by a tradition of excellence.

Info for Runners

MIAA Information
Please see the MIAA Handbook:
(MIAA Handbook July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2023)

Diet & Nutrition
The Healthy Runner's Diet (Runner's World Magazine, August 29, 2007)

Milk
"After a workout — a glass of milk" (Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Sept. 15, 2010)

Training
Barefoot Running
"Only A Game" (WBUR Boston)
Posted by Karen Given, Saturday, May 8th, 2010

Great Books for runners to read:
Born to Run
Ultramarathon Man
The Perfect Mile
Duel in the Sun
A Cold Clear Day
Bowerman and the Men of Oregon
Once a Runner
Again to Carthage
Running with the Buffaloes
Daniels Running Formula
Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend