The boys cross country team earned its first win in more than five years at the annual Canterbury Invitational race on Sep. 25.

The Bearcats won in convincing fashion at the event, which allows each school to enter only seven runners in each of the boys and girls races. As with most cross country races, the score for each of the 10 teams was the sum of the places of its top five runners.

Hotchkiss finished first with 53 points, nearly 20 points clear of the next-best placed teams, Loomis and Hopkins. The Bearcats distinguished themselves by being the only team with two runners in the top five, four in the top 15, and all five scoring runners in the top 20 overall.

As with the previous week, Huck Whittemore ’22 led the way with a second-place finish overall at 16:25. Also scoring for Hotchkiss were Ciaran Groom ’24 (fourth at 16:38), Owen Zinn-Keane ’22 (12th at 17:38), John Coffin ’24 (15th at 18:02), and Oliver Johnson ’25 (20th at 18:27).

Although they did not score, Phil Warren ’23 and Ben Johnson ’22 also finished in the top 30, giving Hotchkiss another distinction only enjoyed by the top three teams at the event.

The girls team finished seventh overall, led by Daphne Barrett ’24(17th at 21:49). Also scoring for Hotchkiss were Kayla Uzwiak ’22 (28th at 22:43), Grace Gordon ’24 (30th at 22:47), Ella Mohanram ‘23 (38th at 23:40), and Darina Huang ‘23 (43rd at 23:58).