As the fall sports season comes to a close, and the boys and girls cross country season alike, the dominance of the program has done nothing but continue. Despite not having the flash or popularity of the schools football or soccer team, the cross country team is the most consistently dominant and winning programs the school has to offer, churning record breaking runners year in and year out on both the boys and girls side of the team.

Just one look at the cross country teams twitter page will show you just how incredible this program truly is, and how their 2024 season went. Headlining the boys team are runners Brody Watt ‘26, Sean Griffin ‘26, John Richardson ‘25, and Julian Bonk ‘26 to name a few. This year the team won the County Championship for the first time in over 35 years, leading the way to a second place finish in the State Group 2 Championship. 

The girls team had a great season as well, led by senior Lucinda Putnam, who broke her own personal record, as well as school records, this season on the way to a 6th place finish in the State Group 2 Championship.

Speaking on the results of the season, junior Julian Bonk said “​​We have performed very well … despite suffering from a series of injuries while also relying heavily on underclassmen.” This reliance on underclassmen is one of the reasons why the Bernards High School track and cross country program has been so successful over the past decades. Regardless of age and experience the mountaineers find ways to win meets and break records.

Sean Griffin, a junior member of the cross country team agreed with Bonk, claiming that “the Cross country season was a great success”. As for his favorite memory from the year, Griffin said it was “Our 14 mile long runs in the august heat followed by our trips to lil’ pickles afterwards.”

The running program as a whole has had a remarkable start to the year, as the winter track team has also seen success as their season gets underway. From cross country, to winter track, to spring track, the Bernards High School running program is in a good position to continue its historic success as one of the best programs in the school.