Pilgrim School runners ready for cross-country season
At Pilgrim School, every student is an athlete.
That sentence begins the athletic section for the small local private school’s webpage. The paragraph goes on to explain how team sports help Pilgrim students improve their strategy and teamwork skills, both of which undoubtedly become extremely important beyond high school.
Team
THE TEAM: Head Coach Riley Williams, Dominic Chang, Sawyer Ternosky, Harlan Breen, George Madera, Jaden Ilic, Teddy Furst, Felix Eilenberg and Assistant Coach Adam Stewart.
Cross-country is a team sport the same way track and wrestling are: A team score is kept at dual meets and relays (tournaments), but ultimately, the individual athlete’s priority and responsibility is his or her personal performance. Ask a high school runner or wrestler if they’d rather be an individual state champion or be a member of a state championship team and almost every athlete will choose that individual title.
Cross-country does not draw as many runners at Pilgrim as it does at other schools, but then, most schools are larger than Pilgrim. The prestigious academy, located in Koreatown near Lafayette Park, consists of grades kindergarten through 12, and the combined student population is under 400. Having such a small student body, and especially at the high school level, can make it challenging to field complete athletic squads.
“We didn’t get any girls out for the cross-country team this year,” said Pilgrim Panther Athletic Director Sam Taub. “The girls’ volleyball season takes place in the fall, so that’s where they ended up.”
At smaller schools, where the athletic talent pool is limited, athletes tend to compete in more than one sport during a school year.
Jaden Ilic
Jaden Ilic and Dominic Chang are both 11th graders at Pilgrim. They are the Panthers’ top runners, but cross-country is not the only sport they participate in.
“I also golf and play basketball,” said Chang. “Cross-country really helps my endurance, especially during basketball season.”
Ilic also plays basketball in the winter, then somehow competes in both track and boys’ volleyball in the spring.
“Cross-country gives me something to stay consistent with during the summer,” said Ilic, who also likes to rock climb, though it’s a mystery how he can find the time to do that.
Coach
Pilgrim’s cross-country coach, Riley Williams, sometimes runs with the team, especially when he holds their workouts in the neighborhood of Koreatown. Williams was a runner at Millikan High School in Long Beach, but at shorter distances. He competed in the long jump and 300 meter hurdles and qualified for the CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) state tournament his senior year. He placed sixth in the hurdles. He then attended Cal State Los Angeles on a full track scholarship.
“I ran cross-country in high school because my mom wouldn’t let me go out for football,” laughed Williams.
The team also practices on Pilgrim’s campus, where they run the perimeter of the school grounds. Griffith Park is their home course for competition, and Williams sometimes holds practice there.
“I push the faster kids,” he said. “But we have a few beginners this year, so I’ve been trying to build them up and ease them into the distance running.”
Teammates
Cross-country is hard. It hurts.
Dominic Chang
“My favorite part of a cross-country meet is the end,” laughed Chang.
“I like the sprint to the finish,” said his teammate, Ilic.
“I feel really great afterwards,” added Chang. “It clears my head.”
Ilic and Chang are friends. It makes sense: Extreme challenges like cross-country help form bonds. The two are also in a rock band together called Standard Tuning.
Wonder if they cover the song “Running on Empty.”
Category: People
